>^J»f^^kVgtogi 



D RED YEARS 



^k^XJL+L K*k iL2kJ>^JZ+k.i*A 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



6fmp + ©ajtgrig^i ^u + . 

Shelf I... ...... 



U45(h d 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




SETH BRYANT, 



FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN WHEN OVER NINETY 
YEARS OF AGE. 



SHOE AND LEATHER 



TRADE 



The Last Hundred Years 



1/ 
SETH BRYANT. 






BOSTON, MASS.: 

SETH BRYANT, ASHMONT, PUBLISHER. 

189I. 



V 



COPYRIGHTED BY THE AUTHOR. 
189I. 



L. C. Parker & Lu.. Prs., Lynn, Mass. 



TO THE READER. 

It is seventy-one years since I commenced business. I 
was brought up a tanner, as my father and grandfather 
were before me, and have been familiar with the business 
ever since. I became a shoe manufacturer in 1822 and com- 
menced shipping shoes all over the United States, South 
America and the West Indies. I think my experience 
would be a great advantage to the trade, and in publishing 
this book I will endeavor to give a few details which will 
' be of benefit to the trade. The shoe and leather business has 
been the most beneficial industry in Massachusetts. It has 
. not only kept millions of men and women at work, but 
has furnished them with happy homes. The shoe manu- 
facturers were always liberal in their dealings with the 
South and West and gave them very long credits, and 
enabled them to keep great stocks of goods on hand, and 
by that means thousands of poor people were supplied 
with shoes who otherwise would have gone without. 
My advice to the manufacturers would be to extend the 
export trade by forming strong export clubs and sending 
agents abroad. Every dollar's worth of goods sent out 
of the country is clear gain to the manufacturers at 
home. I am now in my ninety-first year and hope I shall 
continue as long as I am of any use here. 

Seth Bryant. 
Ashmont, Boston, 1891. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

John B. Alley's Letter on the First Tariff in Wash- 
ington's Time ....... 6 

Letter to Seth Bryant from J. C. Houghton . . 8 I 
John W. Houghton, the Lynn Philanthropist, from 

the Lynn Transcript ...... 9 

Business Relations and Personal Recollections of 

John W. Houghton by Seth Bryant . . .14 

Story Related by Mr. Abbott of Lynn . . .19 

Slave of a Confederate General and a Guerilla in 

Mexico. ........ 20 

A Nonagenarian's Reminiscences of the Old Colony ; 

Shay's Rebellion ....... 23 

The Lynn 'Shoe Manufacturers. .... 24 

Mitchell & Bryant ; the First Wholesale Boot and 
Shoe House in Boston ; the Leather and Shoe 

Business. ........ 26 

Large Shipment and Sale of Shoes to A. Hemen- 

way ......... 28 

List of Lynn Shoe Manufacturers .... 29 

Where Trade Began 264 Years Ago. ... 30 

The First Tanners in the Old Colony ... 34 

The Shoe and Leather Trade of 100 Years Ago . 38 

Big Cargo of Hides. ...... 44 

Sixty-nine Years Ago ...... 47 

The Future of Brockton . . . . " . -52 

An Old Boston Shoe Merchant Gives Reminiscences 



CONTENTS. 




of a Financial Event in Jackson's Time ; United 

States Bank ....... 

The Great Financial Panic Vividly Recalled of 1837 

Jackson's Time .... 
The Great Guns ; Cast at Bridgewater 
Long Lived ; Old Men 107 Years Old 
Silver and Gold ; the Old Days and Now 
An Old Time Tanner. 
Some Facts About Salt. . 
Shoes for Soldiers . 

Baylies' Memoir of the Colony of New Plymouth 
A Remarkable Sword ; Discovery of Corn 
The Burton Stock Car ; Evils of Transportation 
Trip to Washington April 19, 1861. 
American Trade with Peru .... 
The First Machine to Cut and Head Nails ; Made 

in East Bridgewater and the First in the World 
The French Army in Boston 
The Way Abner Curtis Bought Slaves 
Trade Papers ; Shoe and Leather Reporter 
Large Shipment of Shoes to Australia 
Shoes Shipped to San Francisco 
Patent Leather Manufacturers 
The Patent Centenary 
Boston Events . 
Events of General Interest. 
Incidents 
Old Shoe Manufacturers in Natick and Haverhill 

the Largest Shoe Firm in Wakefield 



58 

62 

65 
69 

73 
75 
76 

77 
79 
93 
94 
104 
114 

116 
119 
121 
122 
123 

125 
126 
127 
129 
*33 
x 35 

136 



(6) 



Letter from Hon. John B. Alley. 

Lynn, March 14, 1891. 

My Dear Sir: — Having known you from my boyhood as a 
prominent shoe and leather manufacturer, I think it exceedingly 
proper that one so familiar as you have been for so many years x 
with the shoe and leather trade, should write a history of the 
trade for the last hundred years ; and I would suggest that you 
extend your history sufficiently beyond that period to include 
some incidents which I think of interest that occurred previous 
to one hundred years ago; and I therefore, in that view, relate 
the following, with regard to Lynn : 

Lynn has been distinguished as a shoe manufacturing centre 
for more than 1GS years. In 1750 it received quite an impetus, in 
consequence of the arrival of a very experienced shoemaker from 
Wales, who so improved, by his industry and skill, the construc- 
tion of shoes, that from that day to this Lynn shoes have been 
renowned all over the world. 

General Washington visited Lynn iu October, 1789, and wrote 
to a friend subsequently, in high praise of Lynn and its business 
of shoe manufacturing, speaking of it as "the great shoe town 
of the country," and with his aid, the first tariff act of Congress, 
exclusively for protection, was passed for the protection of Lynn 
shoemakers. 

This was accomplished by the influence chiefly of some wealthy 
parties living in Philadelphia, where Congress was setting at that 
time, who were natives of Lynn, and whose sympathies were 
greatly aroused for their friends and relatives in Lynn ; as the 



. PROTECTIVE TARIFF. 7 

people there, at that time, were in an almost starving condition, 
occasioned from the excessive transportation of shoes from 
England and France; for from the close of the Revolution in 
1783, until the organization of the new government in 1789, and 
even later, we were living under free trade rule. 

The condition of the people of Lynn became so unbearable, 
that the Legislature of Massachusetts petitioned to Congress to 
enact a tariff to protect the shoe interest against the great influx 
of shoes from other countries, which was approved by Washington 
and the leading Federalists, and also by Jefferson, Madison and 
other leading Democrats, and from that time to the present the 
prosperity of Lynn has been almost unparalleled in any other 
manufacturing locality. Yours truly, 

John B. Alley. 



(8) 



Letter from John C. Houghton. 

Lynn, Mass., July 29, 1800. 
Mr. Seth Bryant: 

Dear Sir: — I send you today a copy of the article which 

you saw when you were in Lynn a while since. I find that Mr. 

J. W. Houghton was born in Harvard, Mass., Aug. 11. 1787; he 

died in Augusta, Georgia, Feb. 27, 1851. The amount given to 

New England relatives was about $23,000. The article in the 

will respecting his slaves is as follows : 

Item 13 — "It is my will and desire, and I # so direct, that all 
the negro slaves, male and female, of which I may die siezed and 
possessed, with their future issue and increase, be removed by 
my executor to the colony of Liberia, in Africa, under the regu- 
lations, and with the assistance of the American Colonization 
Society, within two years after my decease, provided their free 
and voluntary consent is first obtained; and to carry out this 
item of my will fully into effect, I give to my executor $4000, to be 
expended by him in defraying their expenses to the sea-board, 
and in furnishing them with such an outfit as I have expressed to 
him orally." 

The paper, of which a copy is sent with this, gives further 
information, and in connection with what you already know from 
a personal acquaintance with Mr. Houghton, will form a basis for 
a biographical sketch, should you feel disposed to write one. 
Mr. Houghton made his visit to New England in 184:>. 
Very truly yours, 

J. C. Houghton. 



(9) 



[From the Lynn Transcript.] 

JOHN W. HOUGHTON. 

Quite a number of enterprising business men, who have 
amassed a fortune in other places, have at some period of 
their lives been residents of this city and identified with its 
interests. One of these was John W. Houghton, late of 
Augusta, Ga., a native of Harvard, Mass., and a brother 
of the venerable Cyrus Houghton of West Lynn. 

He came to Lynn at the age of nineteen, fresh from the 
paternal estate, to seek his fortune, like Amos Lawrence 
when he trudged to Boston with a bundle under his arm : 
or, as another millionaire, Mr. Isaac Rich, did when he 
left Cape Cod. A poor boy, but hopeful and persevering, 
was Mr. Houghton then, and on his arrival here he went 
to live with his brother-in-law, Mr. Harris Chadwell, with 
whom he served his time. Afterward, while yet a young- 
man, he commenced business with Mr. Joseph C. Jayne. 
under the name of Jayne & Houghton. Few now living, 
probably, remember that old firm near the corner of Lib- 
erty and Market streets, for it was many years ago, in 
1S13, or during the second war with Great Britain. The 
business was not successful, and Mr. Houghton, somewhat 
disheartened, but not discouraged, left Lynn. 

At first he went to Newark, N. j., where he again 
b 



lO IX THE SOUTH. 

attempted to manufacture shoes, but the business not proi - 
ing remunerative, he took what goods he had left, about 
$600 worth, and journeyed South until he reached 
Savannah. On his arrival he had but twenty-five cents in 
cash left with which to commence life in a new country 
among utter strangers. But still hopeful, he took his 
effects and went up the river to Augusta, 125 miles dis- 
tant. There he opened a store, and after many difficulties 
and reverses, which would have discouraged most men, 
he was entirely successful. 

The business that Mr. Houghton engaged in at Augusta 
was the shoe trade, but he gradually added other things, 
until his establishment became a regular outfitting store, 
where planters from the countrv could obtain whatever 
supplies they desired. He kept on hand a large stock of 
goods, fashionable and unfashionable, for master and slave. 
His store was on Broad street, the principal thoroughfare 
of the city, in a crowded business quarter near the Market 
House. When I resided in Augusta in 1S72, long years 
after the death of Mr. Houghton, the rooms he occupied 
were pointed out to me by an old negro who distinctly 
remembered him. He said that Mr. Houghton kept 
everything, and that if a man wanted a bell-top hat or a 
pair of peaked-toed shoes he could obtain them there. 
For a long time he had a profitable trade, dealing largeh 
with the people of Augusta and with well-to-do planters 
of .South Carolina, and even as far as North Carolina. 
His goods were manufactured in the North, and he dealt 
quite extensively with merchants throughout New England. 



JU'SIXESS AND PHILANTHROPY. II 

Iii later years he had so far withdrawn from active business 
as to be able to spend some time on his plantation, about 
twelve miles out of the city, thus gratifying the taste of 
his youth for out-door life. He erected a plain mansion 
for himself, which is still called by Southern people the 
; * Yankee House," laid out the grounds in Northern style, 
and built a school home on the premises. That plantation 
contained about 2,400 acres, and was carried on by 
negroes, about fifty of whom found a home there. His 
reputation was that of a kind master and an honest man. 
His way of life was simple from beginning to end, and 
entirely unostentatious. His rooms were always open to 
people from the North, and he was in constant communi- 
cation with his friends in New England, by letters and the 
ties of business. By his will he gave freedom to his 
slaves, and provided means for their transportation and 
settlement in Liberia. They all went but one man. Mr. 
Houghton may well be considered a public benefactor. 
After making several bequests to friends in Georgia and 
his relations in New England, he gave $4,000 for the 
erection of a school- house to be held by the council of 
Augusta for all the poor children of the city, and to be 
open on the Sabbath to all denominations of Christians for 
divine worship. The building, a substantial brick edifice, 
bears the name of " Houghton Institute," and just west of 
it are two dwelling houses belonging to the estate. The 
grounds are on the corner of Green and Lincoln streets, 
and the invested funds yield about $2,000 per annum. 
Previous to 1S6S, four teachers sufficed for this school, but 



12 VISITS LYNN. 

in 1 868 and '69 three additional ones were needed. 
During those two years 571 pupils were in attendance. 
At that time it was under the care of Martin N. Calvin, a 
Southern man and an accomplished educator. He was 
succeeded by Rev. Dr. Heard as principal, with several 
assistants. 

At the last accounts about 430 scholars were enrolled on 
the catalogue, and the Institute was in a prosperous condi- 
tion. This was Mr. Houghton's attempt to introduce the 
free school system of the North into his adopted city. 
And, although he did not live to see its operation, it has 
proved a success. 

In June, 1845, Mr. Houghton visited Lynn for the last 
time. He was then a/bout sixty, and had lived in the 
South nearly thirty years. Pleasant, indeed, was it, that 
summer, for his friends to talk with him and to find him 
so little changed. He was the same genuine Yankee, the 
same frank, outspoken man, who never had and never 
could become so southernized as to forget Northern ideas 
and principles. He was a large, strong man, with a well- 
developed head, and very active, but quiet and unobtrusive 
in his manner; indeed, he was so much so, that his real 
worth was not known until after his death. His name is 
now held in the highest respect by the people of Augusta, 
and well it may be, for the school that he founded can but 
prove a blessing to the city. 

Besides, in addition to what he gave to the cause of 
education, he left a sum of money to build a church in 
Richmond county, called Houghton Chapel, which, when 



HIS DEATH. [3 

I lived in the South, was in successful operation, being- 
nightly filled with colored worshippers. 

Mr. Houghton died at his rooms in Augusta. February 
27. 1851. His brother Cyrus was the only one of his 
relations who was with him at the time. According to his 
wishes he was buried on his plantation, near the house, 
where he had spent so many happy hours during the last 
years of his life. His grave is within a small inclosure, 
which is sacredly set apart for the purpose, and is a notice- 
able feature of the landscape as one rides along the road 
or stops to survey the premises. — Rev. G. W. Rogers of 
L viin. 



(i4) 



Business and Personal Recollections 

Of John W. Houghton. 

Several years previous to Mr. Houghton's death, the 
firm of Mitchell & Bryant, Broad street, Boston, were in 
the wholesale shoe business, and Mr. Houghton was one 
of our very largest and best customers. We furnished 
him with russet and black brogans for the plantation-. 
He had a very extensive trade with several surrounding 
states, besides oftentimes supplying his own merchants 
there. 

The goods in those days were all shipped to Savannah 
and then taken up the river. Most of the Augusta mer- 
chants purchased their goods in July and "August, perhaps 
some few in September, and when the vessels arrived in 
Savannah the river would be so low they could not get 
the goods up to Augusta. Our friend Mr. Houghton was 
wiser than his neighbors. He had his goods bought and 
shipped in May and June, and when they arrived in 
Savannah, he would get them all up to Augusta before the 
water went down in the river. 

We would often take orders from him of $20,000 or 
$30,000 at a time and have them shipped in season to go 
up the river. I have oftentimes known that the surround- 



SOUTHERN BUSINESS-. IS 

ing country and the -city had to depend on him for shoes 
when the cold weather came on. 

The other merchants' goods were lying in vSavannah 
waiting for the river to rise. The only way to get them was 
to cart them up the country ioo miles ; that would be a very 
expensive and difficult undertaking. Forty years ago 
Augusta, Ga., was a splendid city, and the great com- 
mercial centre of that Southern country. They had some 
of the greatest Southern merchants who came to Boston 
to buy goods. Some of the grocers would buy one 
hundred hogsheads of Porto Rico sugar at a time ; that 
was the kind they bought. Rio coffee they would buy 
by the hundreds of bags, the kind the Southern fam- 
ilies used in those days. They bought all of their other 
goods in the same proportion. 

The city of Augusta has one magnificent wide street. 
It is so wide that there is plenty of room for teams to 
stand, in the centre, a row of several hundred loaded with 
cotton bales, and plenty of room at the sides for two wide 
streets. . On the streets are built splendid large stores, 
like some of the great grocery stores on Broad street, 
Boston, the first I ever saw as large as those. Besides 
having the lower floor filled with groceries, the lofts were 
rilled with all other kinds of goods the planters wanted. 
On the river just below them were the falls. They now 
have a canal cut and are putting up splendid large cotton 
factories all along the river. 

I was in Augusta the year before Mr. Houghton died. 
He was glad to see me and received me in a very cordial 



l6 A VIEW OF SLAVERY. 

manner, in true Southern style. My partner. Mr. Gushing 
Mitchell, had always been there every winter before. 
After looking through Mr. Houghton's goods and getting 
through our business, as we were sitting in his office, he 
asked me if I would like to see some of his little negro 
slaves. I said yes. He opened the door and called in 
half a dozen jet black little negro children ; they were the 
prettiest little children I ever saw. I asked him how 
many negro slaves he had. He said : '* Seventy-five in all, 
men, women and children. I keep all I can in the city, 
the rest on my plantation. I have bought them all out of 
the pure cause of humanity. I could not see them 
wronged and abused." Anyone who lias been in the South 
knows there has been extreme hard cases where there is a 
family of slaves sold at auction. One man buys the hus- 
band, another the wife and another the children. Then 
there would be cases where the master would take otfence 
against his woman servant, and. as a punishment, would 
have her sold to go on a plantation. Such cases as these 
were coming up every week, and Mr. Houghton being 
known as a whole-souled philanthropist, they would 
appeal to him. and he having money, would step in and 
do all lie could to relieve the afflicted. In consequence 
his number of slaves were constantly accumulating. The 
bright side of slavery was the slave holder's love for the 
dear little children. I do not believe there was ever a 
place where the little ones were so wel»l beloved and cared 
for. I think their kind treatment and love of the dear 
little children brought down a blessing and had a greu 4 : 



SLAVE CHILDREN. . I 7 

influence over the whole community. All the white chil- 
dren had the advantage and came under that special 
influence. A stranger in the city of Augusta, seeing the 
streets full of those bright, handsome little children, never 
would mistrust thev were slaves. I think the owners 
themselves forgot it, their love was so strong for them. 
A person riding along the country, going by the plantations, 
on the sunny side of the buildings would see a great flock 
of little negro children, and a good old negro man and a 
good, nice % black woman taking care of them. Nobody 
knows better than a good old colored woman how to take 
care of children. It would do a person good to see their 
loving care of them. I think the whole of the Southern 
chivalry, generosity and hospitality grew out of their good 
treatment of those little children. 

Mr. Houghton could not liberate his slaves in Georgia ; 
His only hope was to send them to Liberia. He did all he 
could for them while he lived, and then at his death his 
love was so strong for them he did the wisest and best 
thing that could possibly be done. 

When I arrived in Georgia I had just heard of Mr. 
Helper's book. His proposition was to buy all the slavey 
allow $300 each for men. women and children, and pay for 
them in government bonds. And if that could have been 
carried out. what a sight of trouble and suffering it would 
have saved. 

J did not dare to mention it there in Georgia. I spoke to 
one man there about it and was told to " hush up." All I 
have seen and heard at the South, leads me to believe it couhi 



lS SLAVES SENT TO LIBERIA. 

have been carried out by the people in a very lew years, if 
it had not been for the politicians and office seekers. The 
Southern and Northern merchants were not in favor of 
slavery ; there are thousands of good men and women down 
South who would have been in favor of that measure it' 
it could have been done. All the good philanthropists of 
the North would have joined in and it would have been 
carried, if we could have kept people from being mad 
with each other. A great many men and women told me 
when I was down .South, they would be glad #to liberate 
their slaves, but what should they do with them, for the\ 
could not free them in Georgia, or anywhere South. 
When Mr. Houghton died his negro slaves were all sent 
to Liberia, Africa, according to his directions in his will, 
and all arrived there safe. What a blessing it was to them 
to be landed there free and independent as they were. 
Every man and woman could raise up their hands and 
thank God that they owned their own children. Not only 
a blessing to them, but to the community of Liberia, to 
have so many bright children, who had been so lovinglx 
brought up and so happy like little angels, and could 
impart it to their little ones. What a lasting influence 
those men and women would have on the community. 
The influence would extend for generations to come. It 
is owing to the loving way in which the little negro chil- 
dren are brought up that makes their attachment to their 
masters so strong and loving. We hear of stronger cases 
of affection among them than we do among white men. 



(i9) 



A Young Slave Who Went to California. 

Mr. Abbott of Lynn, of the firm of Hood & Abbott, 
formerly great shoe merchants of St. Louis, relates the 
history of the great California gold fever. There were a 
great mam' young men who were fitted out from St. 
Louis. They would enter into an arrangement with some 
man who would furnish the money. They would go to 
the Missouri river as far as they could, and join the 
caravans and go across the country to the mines, and do the 
best they could, the man who fitted them out receiving- 
one-half they made. 

There was a widow woman who had a son, and he 
wanted to join in with them, and she let him go.. She 
also had a young man slave who wanted to go too, and 
promised his mistress to bring back to her air the gold he 
could get. He did go. Her son was taken sick. The slave 
stayed by him and took care of him till he died and marked 
his grave. Then he went to the mines and went to work 
in good earnest, saving all he got. When he had accumu- 
lated a sum he supposed his mistress would be satisfied 
with, he came back and delivered it up to her. Mr. 
Abbott says the amount exceeded all that the rest of the 
young men brought back. Was that not ;i great honor 
and glorv to the negro race r 



20 A SUCCESSFUL SLAVE. 

SLAVE OF A CONFEDERATE GENERAL AMD A GUERILLA 

IN MEXICO. 

[The following article we copy from the Boston Herald. | 

Peter Henry Field, a colored drayman, died in San 
Antonio, Tex., January 22, 1S91. aged 64. Field w ;e* 
originally a slave, and fell into the possession of General 
Hamilton P. Bee about forty years ago. Bee went into 
the struggle for the confederacy and Peter Field went with 
him. At the close of the war General Bee went to N 
Mexico, which was then in the throes of its last national 
struggle, and Field went with him again. Arrived at 
Monterey General Bee decided that he had no particular 
use for Peter, and decided that if Field would not take 
advantage of his liberty on his own account, it should be 
thrust upon him. 

Bee, therefore, took the incisive step in Fields life and 
fortune. He presented him with $50 in gold, a rifle, a 
pistol and a horse, and told him to do the best lie con Id 
for himself. Field received the presents, and parted from 
his former master with tears of regret. The next heard 
from him he was fighting with the French forces under 
the command of Colonel Ney, a nephew of the famous 
marshal. The division commanded by Colonel Ney was 
apart of the military body called contra guerillas. The 
soldiers in this division were bold, fearless and adventur- 
ous, ready at any time to toss up heads or tails for their 
lives. 

\\ i tli these warriors Field remained one vear. passing 



A SUCCESSFUL SLAVE. 21 

through many remarkable adventures and hairbreadth 
escapes. He returned to Texas, located in San Antonio, 
and proved highly successful. As evidence of this, he 
left an estate valued at nearly $20,000. beside having 
>ed and provided for a large family. 



raiS' 



(22) 



Shay's Rebellion. 

ANoXOOKXARl.w's RKMINlSCTiN'CKS OF THE OLD COLONY. 

At the close of the Revolutionary war all fancy 
goods were very scarce. None had been imported during 
the seven years' war. Then when they commenced com- 
ing in, there was a great rush for them. All the money 
we had in circulation then was silver, and that was pretty 
soon all gone. As the law was then, if a man owed you 
$40 or $50. you could sue him and get out an execution, 
and sell his whole farm for the amount owed. 

That brought on Shay's rebellion and a great excite- 
ment. In the old colony they raised quite a large army 
from Bridgewater and surrounding towns. They marched 
over to Taunton, where a court was being held, to 
surround the court house and prevent the issuing of 
executions. When they arrived at Taunton they found 
the government forces already formed in a line, on the 
Common, under command of Colonel Leonard. The 
Bridgewater forces were commanded by a son oi Colonel 
Leonard. lie formed his line in front of the government 
forces. After they had time to look at each other and 
cool off a little, the young Colonel Leonard rode over 
to his father, took hold of his horse's rein ami led 



the court adjourns. 23 

him right over to his own side. The government 
forces did not fire because it would endanger their colonel. 
While that little occurrence was taking place, they saw a 
man coming on a running horse from the court house. 
He came up screaming, saving the court would adjourn 
if they would not fight. They did adjourn the court. 
Then the legislature came together and passed a law, 
that if you sued a man and attached his lands, thev 
should be set off and appraised. 



(*4> 



The Lynn Shoe Manufacturers. 

The Lynn shoe manufacturers, as a general thing, were 
an honorable, high-minded set of men. There is no man- 
ufacturing city or community stands higher in this country 
or any other. T have known a great many of them per- 
sonally for over sixty years. They not only emploved 
thousands of men and women year in and year out. hut 
created thousands of happy homes. They cannot he sur- 
passed in this country or in any other. Their great useful- 
ness did not stop there. They were sending their shoes 1>\ 
millions South and West ; in fact, you may say. all over the 
world. Millions would never have been supplied if it had 
not been for them, They were strong, courageous men. 
and had to sell most of their goods on credit, and stand 
right up and take their chances. If the crops failed South 
or West, or great fires or freshets, or any other calamity 
took place, they could not collect their debts (hat year : the\ 
had to extend their credits or compromise, or lose the whole. 
They stood this like heroes year after year: they manufac- 
tured millions of pairs of shoes they never got any pa\ 
for; they never had any protection but a small tariff on 
boots and shoes which they soon outgrew. They now can 
send shoes to any part of the world: all the favor the\ 
ask is to let them trade them off to any foreign country for 



NOTABLE SHOE MANUFACTURERS. 25 

anything the government will let them bring back free of 
duty. By so doing they can dispose of their surplus stock 
and keep their people at work. 

It is not the manufacturers alone who build up the city, 
but it is those who sell the goods, as well. Lynn has been 
very fortunate in having some very enterprising men who 
have sold her goods, like John W. Houghton of Augusta, 
Ga. He not only sold goods to the amount of millions, 
but always stood up for Lynn shoes. Other noticeable 
dealers were: Otis Johnston of Savannah, Hubbard & 
Gardner of Richmond, Va., Hazleton & Haddock of 
Philadelphia, Pa., Hood & Abbott of St. Louis. 

I will give a little incident concerning old shoe manu- 
facturers. Messrs. Micajah Pratt and Nathan Breed came 
to my store in Boston and said there were a couple of 
young men who wanted to open a shoe store in St. Louis. 
They were very capable, enterprising young men, of un- 
doubted integrity. They had not sufficient capital to start 
with. They were going to let them have $500 worth each 
of their Lynn goods and wanted me to put in $500 worth 
of my men's goods. If they succeeded they would be 
good future customers. I put in $500 worth of my goods, 
and I got Joseph Hunt, of Abington, to put in $soo 
worth of his fine, nice Abington goods. Thev started the 
firm of Hood & Abbott, St. Louis. They succeeded ami 
became great successful merchants. I believe I sold Hood 
& Abbott a million dollars' worth of goods in years after. 
Mr. Hood died, but Mr. Abbott continued the business 
and became a rich man. He is now a splendid old gen- 



26 THE FIRST WHOLESALE HOUSE. 

tleman. That is only one case. I presume Lynn manu- 
facturers have started a great many others the same way. 
All the men whose names I have mentioned became very 
successful merchants, and bought millions of Lynn shoes, 
and they would always stand right up for the shoes in 
season and out of season. And Lynn manufacturers could 
always depend upon them, and they gave the Lynn mer- 
chants a great support. The Lynn manufacturers can say 
that they did good and faithful work in the Lord's vine- 
yard. They not only kept the poor men at work, but 
supplied thousands of poor people with shoes. No doubt 
they will have their blessed reward for living such useful 
lives. 

Mitchell & Bryant was the first wholesale boot and shoe 
house in Boston. We commenced in 1S24. All the other 
dealers at that time were jobbers, and kept all kinds of 
shoes. Among the manufacturers were : Penniman & 
Whitney, Walker, Emerson & Harrison, the Voses and 
the Kimballs. Mitchell & Bryant kept only men's heavy 
goods. Russet and black brogans were manufactured in 
Holliston, Mass., and we sold nearly all the shoes which 
were manufactured there, and also kip brogans and copper 
nailed shoes for the West India trade, made in Joppa. 

All the Lynn manufacturers made our house their head- 
quarters, because we could turn our customers on to the 
Lynn goods and they could send their customers to us, and 
we had a reciprocity trade with them for more than twenty 
years. No one could know them better than we did. We 
had a large trade South and West with the grocery men, 



SHOES SOLD BY GROCERS. 2>] 

the dry goods men, the hardware men. They could keep 
our goods and sell them by the case, and some of them 
could work ofT a great many cases in a year. We had one 
large grocery house in Cincinnati. He sold so many shoes 
that the shoe dealers in the place had to go and hire him 
not to sell any more. We sold a great many goods for 
export. 



(28) 



Ship Large Sale to Hemmenway. 

Augustus Hemmenway, the great Chili merchant, had 
five or six ships running to Valparaiso and bringing back 
cargoes of copper ore in bulk. We would put up the 
shoes in nice little cases, twenty-four pairs in a case. The 
cases would be bound with little iron straps. He said he 
could put two cases on to a mule's back and send them 
three or four hundred miles over the mountains. He kept 
his trade so private that he did not allow us to tell any one 
he bought shoes of us. He would send them aboard the . 
vessel after dark, for fear other people would find out he 
was shipping shoes; and he was just as private with other 
goods. He kept a gang of men loading the ships all night. 
The last bill of goods I sold him amounted to about 
$20,000, which I had his check for. 

Our trade with Hayti and St. Domingo and Cuba was 
quite large. All we sent to Hayti we traded for corlee, 
which we imported in quite large quantities. To Cuba 
we would send by most every vessel twenty or thirty cases, 
and take good sugar, brown or white, just as they could 
do the best with. Those were the days of the low .tariff 
duty on sugar. When we got more sugar than we could 
sell to good advantage, we made a shipment of white 
sugar to Russia, and would take back little untanned calf- 
skins and Russia duck. We shipped some of the brown 



STATESMAN SHOE AND LEATHER MEN. 20, 

sugar to Trieste, and brought back opium for payment. 

The leather and shoe business is a very important and 
useful industry. We have had some of the greatest 
and most honorable men in the country belonging to it. 
General Grant. President of the United States, was a 
tanner ; Henry Wilson, Vice-President of the United 
States, was a shoe manufacturer ; Governor Claflin of 
Massachusetts was a manufacturer ; Gideon Lee, one of the 
mayors of New York city, was the greatest tanner in the 
country, and a very celebrated man in his day ; John W. 
Houghton of Lynn, was a shoe merchant and a great 
philanthropist, an honor to the city of Lynn and an honor 
to the trade. 

I append a list of the Lynn shoe manufacturers of whom 
Mr. Houghton bought goods : John B. Alley, Joseph 
Alley, Samuel Boyce, William S. Boyce, Samuel Brim- 
blecom, Isaiah Breed, Isaiah Chase, Nathan D. Chase, 
George Johnson, Daniel L. Mudge, James Pratt, Micajah 
C. Pratt, David Taylor, Isaiah Wheeler, Josiah Newhall. 
Nathan Breed, George Keene, Samuel M. Bubier, L. B. 
Frazier, J. N. Sanderson, John Lovejoy, Harrison New- 
hall, T. P. Richardson. 



(3°) 



Where Trade Began. 

People now-a-days think they are in advance of the 
times, but trade in a great measure is governed by the 
necessities of the times. That the first colonist worked on 
a sound basis, is known, although not burdened with a 
surplus of gold or silver. 

I gather from the records in Memorial Hall, Plymouth, 
the following : 

"In the spring of 1627 the new Plymouth colonies 
found themselves involved in unusual difficulties. The 
London Association, on which they depended, was broken 
up, and the interest and credit of their little colony was at 
stake. A pecuniary crisis was at hand. They dispatched 
an agent to London to bring matters to a settlement. The 
terms of the settlement were that the colonies should pay 
£1800 sterling in yearly payments of £200 each, for nine 
years. 

" On these terms they would be released from their 
former agreement, and all their effects would be secured to 
themselves. These terms were, at a general meeting, 
accepted and ratified. But who, in their poor condition, 
would assume the obligations to meet these payments and 
discharge their other engagements and supply the yearly 
wants of the plantation ? 

" In this emergency Governor Bradford, Elder Brewster, 
and five other noble men, jointly bound themselves, in 
behalf of the rest, for the payments. They had other 



TRADING POSTS AND COMMERCE. 3 1 

large liabilities, and with difficulty met their daily expen- 
ditures. They devised a plan, not by tax nor by forced 
labor, but a plan calculated to bring into action personal 
interests and privileges with the highest public good. 
They proposed to receive into partnership with themselves 
all the first colonies, with every young man of prudence 
among them, and give to each a share in all that belonged 
to the colony, with the right to each head of a family to a 
share for his wife and one for each child ; also to divide at 
once to each shareholder an equal portion of land with 
title to his own habitation and improvements, on condition 
of his meeting his specified share of responsibility by 
certain portions of the fruits of his labors. 

"The plan was received with general satisfaction, and 
was adopted. As the Governor and some others were 
pledged for the payment of the debts, they became doubly 
interested in the trade of the colony. Therefore two 
prominent trading posts were established. One was at 
Manomet, called Aptuxet, twenty miles south of Plymouth, 
where they first discovered wampum. 

" Here on a small navigable stream was a point where 
coasting vessels from Long Island sound, New Amsterdam 
(now New York), and the southern colonies passing up 
Buzzard's bay, could find a landing place nearest the 
waters of Cape Cod bay. 

44 Over this neck of land (the Suez of New England), 
was a land carriage of six and one-half miles. There is 
where the commerce of the greatest nation of the earth 
began. Their trade extended all over the world. An- 
other trading post was established at nearly the same time, 
some 200 miles northeast of Plymouth, on the Kennebec 
river, and called Kennebec. Here with the surplus corn 
raised in the colony, and with the use of 'wampum' for 
money, were exchanges made for furs, skins and other 



32 PROVINCES CEDED TO FRANCE. 

valuables. They were so successful in their enterprises 
that their debts were all paid off. They went on 
successfully for twelve years. 

4 'On their northern borders King Charles II, when he 
came on the throne, in order to secure money for his wife's 
dowry, ceded to France the Canadas, including Nova 
Scotia, Port Royal and Cape Breton, thus yielding up the 
portions of the new world most valuable for trade, fisheries 
and naval stores, to settle the question of one-half the 
queen's dowry. 

" One of the first fruits of this to the Plymouth people 
was the treacherous robbery of their trading post at 
Penobscot. The established price of corn was six shil- 
lings per bushel, and one bushel of corn for one pound of 
beaver skins. 

" This wampum or wampumpeaugne, was a kind of 
Indian money made of the beautifully polished por- 
tions of the shell of the small clam, called quahog, some 
say also of the periwinkles. It was both of the purple 
and the white shell of convenient size, and gracefully 
shaped, with a drilled opening in the centre, to be strung 
like beads. The purple was of twice the value of the 
white. A fathom of this stringed money was valued at 
about five shillings. Three purple shells or six white 
ones passed for an English penny. Of like material were 
made some of the most valuable ornaments of the 
natives." 

Through the kind courtesy of Dr. T. B. Drew, Superin- 
tendent of Pilgrim Hall, I find in Governor Bradford's 
history of Plymouth Plantation that Isaac Ellerton has the 
honor of being the first shoe dealer in the United States. 
In 1628, Governor Bradford, with others, formed a syndi- 
cate and raised £50 ($250), which was a large sum in 



CITIES SETTLED. 33 

those days, and sent Isaac Ellerton to England to purchase 
shoes, hosiery and some linen cloth. One shipment of 
leather and shoes had been received in 1625. The first 
cattle brought here from England were a bull and three 
heifers, brought by Mr. Winslow in 1624. Virginia was 
settled in 1607, New York in 1614, Plymouth in 1620, 
Salem in 1628 and Boston in 1630. 



(34) 



The First Tanners in the Old Colony. 

I consider it would do our forefathers great injustice to 
omit mentioning that they landed in Plymouth in 1620, and 
Endicott did not arrive in Salem until 1628 or 1630, and 
that would give them eight or ten years the start. Perhaps 
they did not have any cattle the first two or three years, 
but after that they imported all the cattle they wanted 
through their joint stock company. By 162S or 1630 
they were doing quite an importing and exporting business 
with the West Indies, and had the same advantage as 
Salem, for importing hides. 

Now as to the date of old tanneries. Being an old 
tanner myself, I went down -to Plymouth last summer to 
hunt up the name of the first tanner of that place. I was 
personally acquainted with Mr. Solomon Richmond and 
his son Micah. I find in Mr. Davis' history of Plymouth 
that Micah Richmond came there from Weymouth in 
1630, and as Mr. Solomon Richmond had a son of the 
same name, Mr. Davis thinks that is the same old family 
tannery. Mr. Solomon Richmond had a brother who was 
a currier in Weymouth, landing in iSiS, and sold a great 
deal of leather that was tanned in Plymouth. Old Deacon 
Crumby was a tanner in Plymouth at an early date. 

The next yard was old Mr. Cushman's, of Kingston. It 
must be dated a very few years after the settlement of 



THE TANNING BUSINESS. 35 

Plymouth. The next remarkable tanner was Experience 
Mitchell. He came over in 1623, in the ship Ann, which 
was the third ship, and he was called one of the fore- 
fathers. He lived in Plymouth awhile and then moved to 
Duxbury, thence to Bridgewater, which was the first 
interior town settled after Plymouth, and the largest town 
in the Commonwealth, being fourteen miles square. It 
was near the seat of the old King Philip war, in which it 
bore such a glorious part. Mr. Mitchell settled at a place 
called Joppa, and there established and was the owner of 
the old Joppa tannery, where his old bark stone now is. 
After him came his son, Ensign Mitchell; after him, 
Colonel Edward Mitchell, and after him, his son, dishing. 
He was a very celebrated tanner and carried on the 
business nearly sixty years ; he made very excellent leather 
and carried on an extensive business in the old-fashioned 
way of tanning by the halves, and either made it into sole 
or .upper leather, as customers chose. He tanned with oak 
bark and his leather had a great reputation. He sold in 
North Bridgewater, (now Brockton). Arza Keith and his 
brother, Mike Faxon, Colonel Southard, the Littlefields of 
Stoughton, Colonel Turner of Randolph, Seth Mann, C. 
Alden, Seth and Luther Thayer, Ephraim Lincoln and the 
Holbrooks, father and son, of West Randolph, were well- 
known manufacturers. There were then five or six large 
curriers in Roxbury. His leather was so popular that he sold 
to them all. He died in 1S20. This firm of Experience 
Mitchell dates back' to 1650. Through father and sons 
they carried on the yard 170 years. During all these years 



36 EARLY TANNERIES. 

the old farmers of Plymouth County came up to Joppa, 
not with offerings, but to get their hides tanned, as bark 
was plenty there. For 170 years the pilgrims around 
Joppa crossed over the land with dry feet, well shod. 

Mr. Mitchell's brother William, settled in Cummington 
and established the famous Cummington tannery. Gideon 
Lee & Co. sold the leather in New York. After 1820 the 
property was bought by Mitchell & Bryant, and they com- 
menced manufacturing shoes for the Spanish and South 
American trade. They shipped goods to New York by 
the way of Providence before there was any railroad or 
steamboat. They shipped through Spofford & Tileston. 
They had most of the Cuba trade also ; made great ship- 
ments from Boston to Cuba, St. Domingo and Cape 
Hayti, and received coffee and sugar in return. They 
sold large shipments through Augustus Hem men way. 
They also manufactured for the home trade. Their shoes 
were mostly made by hand and given out to be made. 
The workmen would generally take out a hundred pairs at 
a time to fit and make. They would keep them out from 
thirty to sixty days. They paid about one-third more for 
making than it costs now. 

Mitchell & Bryant established the first exclusively whole- 
sale house in Boston in 1824. They manufactured about 
3,000 pairs per week, and carted through what is now 
Brockton, and Brockton owes her success to the shoe- 
makers who were trained in surrounding towns having 
railroad facilities. 

The author, Seth Bryant, manufactured during the 



ARMY SHOES. 37 

Rebellion nearly 200,000 pairs of sewed shoes for the 
Union soldiers, his name being stamped on them. As an 
old shoe manufacturer, I hope the present trade will do 
everything possible for an export business. The shoe and 
leather trade is no longer a pauper industry, and does not 
want any state aid, and the rank and file ought to have 
free trade. The poor shoe manufacturer ought not to joay 
a hundred per cent, duty on his salt and sugar. 



(38) 



The Shoe and Leather Trade. 

I propose to give a few items of that great and useful 
industry, the shoe and leather trade of one hundred years 
ago, and a partial history of the men engaged in it. 
There have not only been in this trade mayors, members 
of Congress, governor and one vice-president, but from the 
West our illustrious General Grant, President of these 
United States. 

We find that in 1796 Perez Bryant & Co. had a shoe 
store at No. 66 Ann street, which would be at the present 
time about the middle of Blackstone street. They had a 
store also in Savannah, Ga., and made large shipments of 
shoes to that city. Mr. Bryant was a native of Halifax, 
Mass. Silas Tarbell had a store in Ann street also. In 
1798 E. Thayer & Co. were in Ann street. They made 
large shipments to Charleston, S. C, and Savannah, Ga. 
Amos Stetson had a large store in Mercantile Row, and 
made large shipments to Charleston and Savannah. 
Messrs. Stetson and Thayer were from Randolph, Mass. 
Mr. Stetson gave a handsome town house to his native 
town. From old records we find the name of Samuel C. 
Torrey, tanner in Pleasant street, his tan yard being in that 
locality. Asa Hammond occupied a shoe store at Xo. 14 
Ann street in 179S. 

In 1S10, we find Samuel Train had a shoe store at Xo. 2S 



FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS. 39 

Mercantile row. He told the writer of this article that he 
started on foot from his home in New Hampshire for 
Boston, with his pack on his back, sat down under some 
large elm trees in Medford and ate the last food in his 
pack, and when he arrived in Boston he was the possessor 
of only 50 cents. He commenced business at the foot of 
the ladder, and made his fortune before he was half way 
up. He did a large business, shipping his shoes in flour 
barrels, packed in as nicely as crackers. He shipped to 
Charleston and Savannah. He became a large real estate 
and ship owner, and was a man of excellence in every 
respect. He bought the place in Medford, where he sat 
under the elms and ate the last loaf, before entering 
Boston. He gave the trade much dignity, and did not 
leave this natural world until past 90 years of age. 

Lee Claflin and T. & E. Batcheller may well be classed 
with Mr. Train, and also L. B. Harrington of Salem. 
Lemuel Higbee & Sons of Boston have been in business 
forty-nine years. L. L. Harrington of Salem has been 'in 
the leather business over sixty years, and is the oldest man 
in the trade. 

Nathan Tufts, of Charlestown, was a large sole leather 
tanner. He sold his leather for cash. Boston money, on 
delivery. He was the founder of Tufts' College. If the 
other tanners had sold on the same terms we might have 
had more colleges. 

The Southwicks were great tanners in Vassalboro. Me. 
Samuel Philbrick sold their leather from his store on Long 
Wharf, where the writer saw Sheperd Knapp from New 



40 A QUAKER S CONSCIENCE. 

York buying sole leather of Philbrick. The New 
Yorkers had not commenced tanning. New York com- 
menced with Gideon Lee & Co. of New York, who had a 
large tannery at Cummington, Mass., carried on by one 
Mitchell, who learned his trade at the old Joppa tannery, 
East Bridgewater, Mass. He was one of the old Mitchell 
family of Joppa, Mass. 

At the time of a war in South America, a cargo of hides 
was brought to Boston from Buenos Ayres, taken by a 
privateer, and Samuel Philbrick, who belonged to the 
Society of Friends (Quakers), would not bid upon them, 
religious scruples preventing, and he saw them sold at a 
very low price. 

Tisdale & Hewins were very prominent in the trade, 
having a store No. i Long Wharf. Mr. Tisdale was a 
director in the New England bank. Nearly all the 
Southern and Western paper went through that bank, 
that being the only one that would take Southern and 
Western paper. There was a law at that time against all 
interest above 6 per cent., but one could take all exchange 
which he could get. Previous to that time Gilbert Dean, 
broker in the old State House, had nine-tenths of all the 
shoe paper. The United States bank and every dollar 
collected in the Custom House and Post Office was paid 
into that bank. They had complete control of all 
the other banks, and they were governed by Nicholas 
Biddle, president of the United States Bank in Philadelphia. 
Thomas and Otis Rich were large leather dealers in Broad 
street, as were also Nester Houghton, Caleb Stetson (after- 



DEALERS 'AND MANUFACTURERS. 41 

ward Atherton & Stetson), Spooner & Arnold, Field & 
Converse, James P. Thorndike, Mitchell & Bryant, Otis 
Fairbanks, Forbush & Townsend, Blackstone street ; Seth 
& Luther Thayer, Merchants' row, Hunt & Loud of 
Weymouth, and H. H. Reed of Weymouth, were all 
largely engaged in the West India trade. J. Littlefield & 
Co., of Stoughton, were largely in the West India trade ; 
they had a house also in New Orleans. Newhall & 
Eveleth were large dealers, Harris & Potter, Walker & 
Emerson, Penniman & Whitney (afterward Jos. Whitney 
& Co.), Water street; William Capen, Merchants' row; 
Levi A. Dowley, Pearl street ; Isaac Prouty, Spencer, 
Mass. ; Jenkins Lane, Asaph Dunbar, Joseph Dunton, 
Abington, Mass.; P. &'N. Copeland, West Bridgewater; 
Daniel S. Howard, of Brockton. The Keiths, Packards 
and Leaches have built up the great city of Brockton. 
Tyler and Ezra Batcheller built up North Brookfield. 
Isaac Prouty built up Spencer. Lee Claflin of Hopkinton 
was the first manufacturer of men's thick boots. Luke 
Brooks was a large upper leather dealer in Elm street. 
He introduced the selling of upper leather bv the foot. 
Previously it was sold by the side, calfskins by the 
pound and not by dozens. Webster & Co., North Market 
street; Josiah M. Jones & Fred Jones, Broad street; 
John Cummings, Fulton street; L. B. Harrington, 
Salem. 

The Danvers tanners were : Ichabod Nichols, Proctor & 
Poor, Jacob Putnam, Moses Putnam, Philip R. South- 
d 



42 PEGGED SHOES APPEAR. 

wick ; John B. Alley, Micajah C. Pratt, Nathan Breed, 
Newhall Bros., Isaiah Breed, Lynn. 

The following were patent leather manufacturers: 
General Thompson, Woburn ; Francis Williams, Qiiincy ; 
Guy Carleton (the largest manufacturer of morocco in 
the trade, weighing over 300 pounds), Thomas Emerson, 
Reading; General Whitney, Milton; James Cheever, 
Dennie & Boardman, William Burrage, Calvin W. For- 
bush, John Simpkins, Henry Bond & Co., Fay, Stone & 
Jones, Nicholas Brigham, Boston; Leonard Johnson, 
Haverhill ; Jacob Little, Rowley ; Samuel Wood, Jonathan 
Warren, Grafton; Nymphus Pratt, Thomas Rice & Co., 
Shrewsbury; Aaron Claflin, Henry Burrage, Mil ford ; 
Elisha Holbrook, Caleb Holbrook, West Randolph; 
James Tucker, Stoughton ; James Webb, Weymouth ; 
Noah Tirrell, James Tirrell, Samuel and Chester Guild, 
William Patten, Roxbury; Abner Curtis, Abington. 

Pegged shoes were introduced in 1815 ; previous to that 
all boots and shoes were sewed, or nailed with copper 
nails, for the Spanish market. The writer has known all 
the shoe dealers since 1820. A period of seventy-one 
years. 

The shoe and leather interest has grown to its present 
large proportions without the least protection from the 
government; if it had any at the start it was outgrown in 
a short time. The trade can ship shoes and leather to any 
part of the world without fear of competition. Massa- 
chusetts now manufactures $150,000,000 worth per year. 



OLD DEALERS STILL IN BUSINESS. 



43 



The oldest shoe dealers in the trade are the following : 
E. & A. H. Batcheller & Co., Boston, established sixty- 
seven years ago. Their factory is in North Brookfleld, 
and is the largest of its kind in the world, making 7,000 
pairs of boots and shoes per day. Isaac Prouty & Co., of 
Spencer, have been in business sixty-five years. Claflin, 
Coburn & Co., factory in South Framingham, formerly of 
Hopkinton, sixty-four years. Potter, White & Bagley, 
dating back to the old firm of Amasa Walker & Co., 
Walker, Emerson & Co., Allen, Harris & Potter, Nute, 
White & Bayley, (fifty-seven years.) 

The oldest leather manufacturer is Leonard B. Harring- 
ton, of Salem, who has been in the business sixty years. 
Lemuel Higbee, of Salem, has been in the business forty- 
nine years. The firm now is Lemuel Higbee & Sons. 
Thomas E. Proctor succeeds his father, Abel Proctor, who 
was engaged in the tanning trade fifty-eight years ago. 
Henry Poor & Sons, the senior of this house, who died in 
1S78, was in business sixty-five years ago. These are the 
richest firms in the trade, showing what free hides 
will do. 



(44) 



Big Cargo of Hides. 

The following- article we copy from the Boston Herald : 
" The An Sable has arrived from Buenos Ayres with a 
cargo of 31,369 hides. They are worth $4 apiece, 
making a cargo worth $125,476. There is material 
enough in those hides to make $1,000,000 worth of shoes, 
if properly assorted with sole and upper leather. The 
upper leather hides will be split twice. Some sheep skins 
will be needed for linings, but those can be imported free 
of duty. The hides are also free. Iron and copper nails, 
sumac and flax, are needed in making these shoes; also 
box boards, which articles are all subject to duty. If they 
were all free, about two cents per pair could be saved on 
the shoes. The, proposed way of paying for these hides 
is the shipping of corn, wheat and cattle from East Boston 
to Liverpool, and to pay Illinois for her corn, Kansas and 
Minnesota for their wheat and Texas for her cattle, by 
sending them shoes. There would be plenty of shoes 
besides, for export, as we can make shoes better and 
cheaper than England, France and Germany, and are 
ready to compete with them in any market. We antici- 
pate sending shoes to Cuba, St. Domingo and all the other 
West India Islands, also to Mexico and all South America. 
We once had the Chilian trade and can have it again by 
taking the duty from copper. Trade in shoes might also 



POSSIBILITIES OF NEW TRADE. 45 

be opened by us in Africa, at Cairo and Alexandria, and 
if the British take Khartoum, there also; and if they do 
not, we can send them there to El Mardi. I saw a gentle- 
man who was in Cairo and Alexandria last year. He 
says there are good markets for all kinds of shoes. 
Canvas shoes are particularly adapted to that warm 
country. In the Sandwich Islands they are worn by the 
natives to the exclusion of all other kinds. Shoes can be 
manufactured for one-half the cost of thirty years ago, in 
consequence of our splendid American machinery. There 
are more shoes manufactured in the second congressional 
district than in any other congressional district in the 
United States. There are more than 10,000 — Brockton 
alone 7,000 — cases per week shipped from that district, 
which will amount to $12,000,000 per year. The district 
includes Plymouth, the three Abingtons, the four Wey- 
mouths, the Bridgewaters, the city of Brockton, Rockland, 
Randolph, Holbrook, and the two Stoughtons. Brockton 
makes $12,000,000 worth per year. Boston imports 
$20,000,000 worth per year in green skins, as England is 
a great wool pulling nation. Now if we could have the 
wool skins free of duty — which is now 30 per cent. — old 
Massachusetts would have a chance to pull some wool. 
Four or five other States have been pulling her for some 
years. If it were not for the remains of her old Puritan 
principles she would be rily. The shoe manufacturers . 
must and will have the skins, as they need them for 
linings. If we could get them \'rec of duty, we could 



46 REPRESENTED IN CONGRESS. 

supply our woolen and carpet factories with cheap wool. 
The district is now represented in Congress by ex- 
Governor John D. Long, who is eminently qualified to 
look after this great and flourishing industry." 



(47) 



A Shipment of Shoes to New York 

Sixty-Nine Years Ago. 

In the year 1822 I was engaged in the manufacture of 
shoes in a village formerly called Joppa, in the town of 
East Bridgewater, Mass. 

There is an interesting fact connected with the singular 
name of Joppa, which this village bore for 150 years. In 
the early part of the eighteenth century there lived a man 
in Joppa (East Bridgewater), by the name of Simon, 
who carried on the business of a tanner ; thus repeating 
the story of the case of St. Peter, who during his Christian 
ministrations in Judea, Galilee, Samaria and vicinity, was 
entreated to stop at Joppa with one Simon, a tanner. 

In 1822 there were only five dwelling houses in Joppa, 
which at the present time contains upwards of fifty 
commodious residences. In that year I made a shipment 
of about 3,000 pairs of shoes to New York, the largest 
shipment which had ever been made in that part of the 
country. The shoes were manufactured of what is now 
known as " split" leather. I had procured a machine, 
the first that was ever brought to that section of the 
country, with which to prepare the leather, and the 
tanners on the south shore and vicinity brought to my 
place their leather to be split. Previous to that time the 



4$ THE FIRST SPLIT LEATHER. 

hides were required to be shaved down by hand proc 
and four sides of leather were considered a good day's 
work for a man to shave down thin enough for patent or 
enameled leather. What a God-send it would have been 
if old Simon of Joppa could have had a " splitting 
machine," wherewith to have got his leather into mer- 
chantable shape at small cost f for certainly lie couldn't 
have shaved down more than two hides by the old process 
he followed when St. Peter was engaged in converting the 
people in the earlier and more benighted Joppa. 

Hut, as Artemus Ward would say, " to return to our 
original subject," regarding the leather I used in those 
days, and the manner of its manufacture. The vamps and 
quarters were split, and the tip of the vamp was lined with 
thin calf skin and then bound. This mode was entirely 
new and original with me, and I had never at that time 
seen any shoes made in that style. Twenty years subsequent 
I saw some shoes which had been brought from France, 
and I really believe the method had been surreptiously 
taken from my shoes. The shoes I made were lined with 
yellow sheep skin, bought from old General Whitney, of 
Milton. The largest skins were sold at $10 per div.cn. 

The shoes were all hand-pegged, and the leather bind- 
ing was sewed on by women. The sole leather used was 
tanned by Tufts of Charlestown. I lis prices used to vary 
from 20 to 22 cents per pound. His exact price I cannot 
recall, but I know his terms, which were, "Cash, Boston 
money, when delivered on the sidewalk " ; and if he had 



ABOUT PRICES. 49 

received the same money for his sole leather that I did for 
my shoes, it is a matter of doubt whether we should ever 
have seen Tufts' College. In relation to the prices paid 
for making and fitting, I would -say that from 30 to 35 
cents per pair was considered a fair price, and these prices 
continued for ten or a dozen years. When done, the 
shoes were packed in. Havana sugar boxes, 75 to 110 pairs 
in a box, and were properly marked. The entire cost of 
the shoes was somewhere »about $1 a pair. The ship- 
ments were made from Providence, R. I., and I generally 
went on the same vessel, which carried the shoes, and the 
latter I sold to Spofford & Tileston lor $1.25 per pair. 
No steamboat was run till about 1S24, and all water 
transportations was made in sailing vessels. 

Messrs. Spofford & Tileston, I suppose, shipped most 
of my goods to Cuba, as they were then largely engaged 
in trade with that place. Besides the purchases the 
Messrs. Spofford & Tileston made of me, they bought 
quite extensively of the now venerable Abner Curtis, of 
Rockland, Mass., then a part of the town of Abington. I 
clearly remember seeing Mr. Curtis drive into Broad 
street, Boston, with four gray horses, his wagon loaded 
heavily with shoes, calf shoes and nailed brogans, all of 
which were shipped in schooners. Also Messrs. A. & H. 
Reed of South Weymouth, Mass., manufactured largely 
for the Cuba trade, making their headquarters in Boston, 
and when the parties had a note to pay they did not run 
after the bank, but made the bank official hunt them up. 



50 SHARP PRACTICE. 

The messenger of the old Suffolk bank informed me that 
he had one of their notes which became due on the 4th of 
July, which he handed to them on the 3d of July for pay- 
ment, as the bank would be closed on the 4th ; to which 
the Messrs. Ree'd replied that they should not close on the 
4th and could pay their notes on that day. In order to 
get " square" with the Reeds, the messenger did take the 
note to them on the 4th, refused to take currency, but 
demanded specie, and the specie was forthcoming, as the 
Messrs. Reed had provided themselves with the specie in 
anticipation of the bank officials' demand. 

In addition to the above named, Mr. James Littlefield 
was also extensively engaged in the Cuba trade, to such a 
degree that the Spaniards of Cuba came to his place and 
made their purchases in person. I afterwards began to 
manufacture for the Cuba trade myself, and made a light 
calf nailed brogan, and my shipments were mostly made 
f by the supercargos of Ben Burgess & Son. I also shipped 
several lots by Mr. Nathan Hyde, of East Bridgewater, 
who was supercargo in one of Captain Roberts' ships. 
The shoes were sold in Cuba, and sugars taken in 
exchange, which in turn were sent to St. Petersburg, 
Russia, and in Russia I got the Russia calf skins in an 
untanned condition. San Domingo, also, came in for 
some of my trade. I sold to a merchant named Lithgo, 
from Hayti, who wished me to find some one who would 
transport the shoes. I finally introduced him to the late 
, William F. Weld, and Mr. Lithgo told him if he would 



WEST INDIA TRADE. 5 1 

find a vessel for his shoes, he would send him a cargo of 
coffee in .forty days, or less. He did so, and Mr. Weld 
finally had forty vessels in that trade, which was the 
foundation for his immense fortune. SpofYord & Tileston 
also made great fortunes out of the Cuba trade. 

Let the shoe manufacturers follow up our export trade, 
and it can be extended to all the South American States 
and the West Indies. Of the men engaged in the trade 
of which we have written, the singular fact may be worthy 
of note, that Messrs. Curtis, Bryant and Littlefield — the 
three oldest engaged in the business — are still alive and 
in the enjoyment of good health, and it is barely possible 
that their longevity may be due in a measure to their 
abstinence from intoxicating beverages, regaling them- 
selves on Havana sugar and coffee, the commodities they 
received in exchange for their goods. 



(52) 



The Future of Brockton. 

The story of Brockton's progress for the last decade is a 
wonderful tale of prosperity, thrift and advancing public 
spirit. Without extraordinary railroad facilities, and with 
no advantages of natural position, our population passed 
rapidly over the line which marks the limits of a town and 
became the only city of Plymouth county and the centre 
of trade and business for an extensive tract of surrounding 
country. Thus far our growth has been satisfactory be- 
yond measure. But we have reared the structure on one 
corner stone, the shoe business. We have given the 
Brockton shoe an enviable reputation the country over. 
Now arises the vital question. Are we nearing the end of 
the growth which may safely be built on one great indus- 
try, and what are the prospects for continued growth in 
population and commercial importance? 

Take two cities as examples of modern growth. Lynn 
is devoted almost exclusively to the making of shoes. It 
has reached a population approaching 50,000. This entire 
population — manufacturers, workmen, merchants, trades- 
men — is obliged to feel the stress of hard times during 
any dull or poor season in the shoe business. Labor 
difficulties, which are frequent there, affect the community 
from West Lynn to Woodend. Compare Lynn with the 
city of Worcester. Worcester capitalists have made it the 



WORCESTER S MAXV INTERESTS. r^ 

centre of a network of railroads. They have introduced 
a great diversity of manufactures. Worcester makes all 
kinds of machinery, has great wire works, rolling mills, 
boot and shoe shops, chair factories, cotton and woolen 
mills, carpet works and a hundred other concerns. In 
short, Worcester makes everything from a needle to a 
cannon. In this diversity of interests, this union of skilled 
labor, the proud Heart of the Commonwealth sees its 
75,000 inhabitants rolling on to 100,000, with no limit to 
its horizon in view. If shoes are down, machinery may 
be up, and if machinery is down, carpets may be up 
(especially if it is the house-cleaning season) There can 
be no question that continued prosperity for Brockton and 
continued growth depends on the two great requisites — 
centering railroads and diversified industries. Brockton's 
shoe business is increasing every year, and with a view to 
learning the value of the manufactured products shipped 
from our busy city during the year 18S4, a Gazette 
representative made a tour of the factories, visiting fifty- 
nine in all, about the number of active, enterprising 
manufacturers. As no individual figures were to be made 
public, and as exact amounts were asked, the result of the 
investigation is thought to be very nearly the correct value 
of the goods. There is no reason to believe that the 
aggregate amount of Brockton's shoe business is less than 
the footing, $12,208,332, giving an average of $206,920, 
for each man's business, a showing of which our manufac- 
turers may well feel proud. While the aggregate figures 



54 



COMPARISONS. 



do not hint at the fact, this is a relatively better showing for 
Brockton than the sister city of Lynn makes, claiming a 
volume of $25,000,000 of business for 1884. As no 
figures are known for Haverhill's shoe business for the 
same year, no comparison can be made. But taking the 
State through, according to the last census (1S80), with 982 
shoe factories, the average value of the product per estab- 
lishment was less than $98,000. In comparison with this, 
Brockton's $207,000, nearly, per firm, looks very comfort- 
able. Aside from the question, "How much business did 
you do ? " each man was asked how it compared with the 
previous year's trade. In this connection, it must be 
remembered that the fall business in Brockton was not very 
brisk as a whole. Nevertheless, about 5 per cent, had 
done double the business of 1883, 8 per cent, had rolled up 
a half more, 16 per cent, showed a quarter better, 14 per 
cent, counted about a tenth increase, 46 per cent, could 
not figure out much, if any change, while on the 
other hand, 5 per cent, had fallen off about one- 
fourth, and 8 per cent, did a tenth less business than 
in 1883. 

Of the present outlook it is sufficient to say that the 
improved tone can be felt in all parts of the city, and that 
we are entering, apparently, upon new and better times. 
Briefly, the signs of the times are favorable to increasing 
business, prosperity and stability. 

Brockton has always had very smart, enterprising men, 
and has them now. When Arza Keith and his brother 



DANIEL S. HOWARD. 55 

started the shoe business in a small way sixty-six years ago, 
in the part which is now Campello, in the centre of the town 
was Colonel Southard, Mark Faxon and Mr. Field. They 
were plodding their way along in a small business because 
the shoe industry was then in its infancy. Although there 
have been a great many manufacturers there who did all 
they could, I think the city is indebted more to Daniel S. 
Howard, than any other man. He commenced business 
in 1848, beginning at the bottom of the ladder, and was a 
thorough-bred mechanic and a business man. He knew 
just how to put every stitch, peg and nail into a shoe 
where it would do the most good. He commenced on a 
good, low-priced shoe ; just what the people wanted to 
wear. Fisher & Baldwin of New York, a great, enter- 
prising shoe firm, told me nearly forty years ago, that 
Daniel S. Howard could make the best shoe for $i of any 
man in this country. I told him to put ioo cents into a 
shoe and bring it to me ; he did so. Then I asked him 
what he would make me 1,000 cases for. He set his price, 
and I told him he might go to work on them. He did so, 
and with his shoes, I got the lead in the trade in New 
York and sold 5,000 or 6,000 cases right along. He kept 
to work and made more shoes than all the rest of the 
manufacturers in Brockton, for several years. And that 
established Brockton's reputation for making good, low- 
priced shoes ; just what the people needed. Philadelphia 
and Newark. New Jersey, were manufacturing a great 
many shoes those days, but they were higher-priced shoes ; 



^6 BROCKTON AND ITS WORTHIES. 

higher in price than the people wanted to pay. So all the 
Southern and Western dealers had to keep a supply of 
Brockton shoes. At the present time there are seventy- 
five shoe factories in Brockton, including Campello. A 
great many of them are now making a higher grade of 
shoes. 

George E. Keith and Preston B. Keith, grandsons of 
Arza Keith and his brother, the old manufacturers, are 
doing a very extensive business, manufacturing a grade of 
higher-priced shoes. Daniel S. Howard has retired from 
business. He was in business from 1848 to iSSS, a period 
of forty years. He is one of the richest men in Brockton. 
A high-minded, honorable gentleman. His residence is 
the finest in the city of Brockton. He has lived a very 
useful life, not only while he was building up Brockton 
and employing thousands of men, but through his means 
thousands of poor people have had goods at lower prices. 
Mr. Fisher, of New York, of the firm of Fisher & 
Baldwin, died wealthy. Mr. Daniel S. Howard was not 
only a great manufacturer, but has proved himself a great 
financier. As rapidly as his money accumulated he 
knew how to invest it wisely. His whole life shows 
he was under the control of love and w r isdom. He 
is an honor to Brockton and to the shoe and leather 
trade. 

The original grant of land of Brockton and Bridgewatcr 
dates back to the time of Massasoit. March 23, 1623, 
Ousemequin, or Massasoit, Sachem of the country of 



LAND BOUGHT, OF MASSASOIT. 57 

Poconocket, gave, granted and sold unto Miles Standish 
and two others, a tract of land usually called Satucket. 
In payment for the land, Massasoit received 7 coats, a yard 
and a half in a coat; 9 hatchets, 8 hoes, 20 knives, 4 
moose skins, io| yards of cotton. 



(53) 



United States Bank. 

A Financial Event in Jackson's Time. 

The bank of the United States was chartered by the 
United States government, March 3, 1816, with a capital 
of $20,000,000, twenty years to run. The government 
subscribed $2,000,000 of the capital. The mother bank 
was in Philadelphia, and they established branches where- 
ever they saw fit,. but the branches were absolutely under 
their control. Through their branches they controlled all 
exchanges throughout the country. Our state banks had 
very little or nothing to do with it. I kept an account 
with them a few years later, being in the shoe business 
on Broad street, Boston. They owned the building where 
the Merchants' bank is now. Boston had a large trade 
with St. Louis, that being a great distributing point at the 
West. I went to the bank with bills on St. Louis. Mr. 
Frothingham was cashier ; he said he could not discount 
or collect another dollar on St. Louis until the bank was 
re-chartered — the charter had then three years to run — 
although they were charging one per cent. That was in 
October. Congress was going to meet the first of Decem- 
ber, 1S31, and the bank had petitioned for a re-charter. I 
had a great deal of trouble with my collections West and 
South and had to sell them to private individuals. 



PRESIDENT JACKSON S VETO. 59 

Soon after this I went to Philadelphia. In a friend's 
store (who was in the shoe business"), I saw him marking 
goods to one of my St. Louis customers. I asked him 
what he did with that man's notes. He said, " I just had 
one discounted at the United States bank that had nine 
months to run." I asked him if he got any collections at 
St. Louis. He said, "Yes." He gave me the names and 
figures. 

When I came home I carried them to Hon. Abbott 
Lawrence. He was director of the branch in Boston. 
He took them to Mr. Frothingham and asked if he refused 
to take Mr. Bryant's bills on St. Louis. He said, " Yes." 
Mr. Lawrence said, " If the bank does not put us on the 
same footing as they are in Philadelphia, I will resign." 
He came to me a few days after and said, " They will take 
your bills." 

Congress came together and passed the bill. President 
Jackson received it on the 4th of July, 1832 ; he sent his 
veto in the 10th. That veto was the greatest ever sent 
from the White House. It saved New England millions 
of dollars, beside the humiliation of twenty years of finan- 
cial bondage. 

In 1834 we had the hardest money pressure I ever knew. 
The branch United States bank in Boston stopped dis- 
counting and began a run upon the other banks in Boston. 
When their bills came in from the banks they were put in 
a bag, which their man Wyman would pass around to 
those banks demanding specie therefor. Money was worth 



60 A TIMELY RELIEF. 

2 per cent, per month at that time, and there were twenty 
to thirty failures in a day. 

Just at this crisis, on a certain day when the mail 
arrived at i p.m., Mr. Charles Hood, cashier of the 
Commonwealth bank, received a large check from the 
United States treasury, drawn on the branch bank. 
Hastening to his own bank he gave notice to the directors 
to go into the streets and relieve all whom they saw in 
distress. Then at 2 p.m. he went into the branch bank 
and saw Mr. Frothingham, saying to him that money had 
been very hard that day, and that he had done all he could 
to relieve the people by paying out his bills very freely, 
and "when the bills come into your bank tomorrow 
morning, send them to me and I shall be ready to settle 
with you." Mr. Frothingham was very much astonished 
and asked Mr. Hood if he had a check on that bank. Mr. 
Hood replied in the affirmative. Mr. Frothingham said, 
" If you will not draw it, but let it go through the regular 
course we will make it all right." Mr. Hood allowed it 
to go, and the next day money was at 6 per cent. Why the 
United States bank brought that awful squeeze on Boston 
has never been known. There was no excuse for it at the 
time, and to General Andrew Jackson belongs thecredit 
of extricating us from it. 

On the iSth of February, iS36,the state of Pennsylvania 
chartered a bank, calling it the Bank of the United States. 
It was just thirteen days before the charter of the former 
bank expired, the old bank turning all their old assets over 



MILLIONS DISAPPEAR. 6 1 

to the new. Twenty million dollars disappeared, old 
stockholders receiving not a cent. The New England 
stockholders suffered with the rest, besides sharing in the 
disgrace which it brought upon the United States. 
President Jackson, in his veto of the bank, said that 
Nicholas Biddle, president of the United States bank, 
admitted that the state banks owed their existence to his 
leniency. 



(62) 



Financial Panic In 1837. 

Some of the incidents of the great financial panic that 
swept the country in 1S37, ^y one °^ ^ ie survivors, may be 
interesting. Early in 1S35, when the government was 
pretty well clear of the United States bank, it commenced 
depositing the money in what was called the " Jackson 
Pet bank." Trade soon began to start up and the pros- 
pects were very promising. Factories were all running, 
trade was extending South and West, and business was 
never better. 

Things went on in this way for a year or more. Then the 
Western banks began to lend money pretty freely to people 
who would invest it in government land at $1.25 per acre. 
At that time Massachusetts and Maine owned their timber 
lands together. When Massachusetts got her share of the 
lands, the should-have-been-wise Legislature passed a vote 
to sell the lands. They commenced putting them on the 
market by the townships. Most of these were run out in 
22,000 acres to a township, and commenced selling at 50 
cents an acre, and finally went up to $2.50. The price 
was so low it made many people crazy to buy. They 
would be worth $100 an acre today, if they had the same 
amount of pine and spruce timber they had then. Eastern 
land notes soon began to grow plenty. 



EFFECTS OF PROTECTION. 63 

The first cloud in the great storm then began to appear. 
We had on the high protective tariff, but it was growing 
less every year under the Clay compromise act. The 
government, in order to protect a few manufacturing cor- 
porations and the rich owners of iron and coal mines and 
a few other protectionists who had their claws on the 
government, collected more money than they knew what 
to do with, and it was piling up in the banks. 

Then Congress had to work all winter to know what to 
do with its money. Some wanted it used for building 
railroads. Others wanted to loan it to the states. Mr. 
Anthony, of Pennsylvania, offered an amendment to the 
bill, to divide the money among the states. The Legisla- 
ture of Pennsylvania had previously passed a resolve to 
divide the money among the states. Mr. Anthony's bill 
passed June 23, 1S36, and went into effect January 1, 
1S37. Tne first effect of the bill? Well, the state 
treasurer of South Carolina presented his draft to the Shoe 
and Leather Manufacturers' bank of New York, Gideon 
Lee, president, and the treasurer demanded specie for it. 
The amount was something over $200,000. 

Mr. Lee had to pay the specie, and thus began the run 
on the banks. Then the banks in New York suspended 
specie payment, and all the banks in the United States 
followed suit. • All the Southern and Western banks would 
pay their debts in their own bills. Illinois was i s t<> 20 
cents on a dollar, Georgia was 30 per cent, discount, 
Alabama was ;c per cent, discount, New Orleans 10 per 



64 BUSINESS UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 

cent, discount. Mississippi would pay Brandon bills 
which started at 50 and went down to nothing. 

This went on for a year or more, until the country was 
ready to resume specie payment. Ten of the Boston 
banks failed or were crushed out of existence by an 
arbitrary vote. But the United States bank of Philadel- 
phia was not able to resume specie payment, and the 
banks of New York and Boston had to lend something 
like $1,000,000 with which to pay specie. For two or 
three months she struggled along, meeting financial re- 
verses, the effect from which she failed, and all banks 
South and West suspended specie payment. 

New York and Boston continued paying specie. Phila- 
delphia had the privilege of paying all her debts at a 
discount of from 10 to 17 per cent., besides having 
control of all the trade for a year or two, until the final 
resumption. I was carrying on the shoe business at this 
time in Boston, and had the hardest struggle that could 
ever be indulged in by any mortal man to eke out a 
livelihood. 

Protection and finance are indeed interesting conun- 
drums just now. It behooves our business men to think 
for themselves and act oblivious to party prejudice. 




(65) 



The Great Guns Cast at Bridgewater. 

Peppered the Red Jackets in the Revolution. 

The first cannon that was 
ever made in the United States 
was cast by Hon. Hugh Orr 
in 1775 at East Bridgewater, 
near Joppa, on the Matfield river. A branch of the 
Old Colony railroad now passes just below the place. 
Hugh Orr was the son of Robert Orr of Lochwinnioch, 
Shire of Renfrew, Scotland, and was born January 2, 
1715. He came to America June 7, 1740, at the age of 
25, landing at Boston, and was by trade a whitesmith, 
and excelled in the making of keen-edged tools. 

Hearing that a man named Keith made scythes at East 
Bridgewater, he concluded to go there, and as there were 
no conveyances in those days, he must, I suppose, have 
walked all the way, arriving there just before dark. He 
called on Mr. Keith, who received him kindly and invited 
him to spend the night with him. Mr. Keith became very 
much interested in the young man, and carried him down 
to his scythe factory and introduced him to his workmen, 
saying, " Here is a young man from Scotland who can 
make any kind of an edge tool." 

Mr. Orr said : "• Yes, I can. If you will let me have that 



66 A SCYTHE FACTORY RAZOR. 

little forge and that leather apron I will make you a razor." 

Mr. Keith ordered a workman to give him a piece of 
iron, and the latter threw the young whitesmith an old 
iron skillet handle- Orr took it up without saying a word 
and went to work on it. He worked it over and made his 
razor, and put it on to one of the stones where they were 
grinding the scythes. When he finished it up, he handed 
it to Mr. Keith and said : " Now, I want you to try it." 
Mr. Keith did try it, and it worked so well the workmen 
took their hats off to Orr. He was a very superior man, 
and there was where his fame began. 

He soon became acquainted with Mary Bass, daughter 
of Captain Jonathan Bass. The captain and his wife 
objected to the match and refused to allow him to see her 
any more. Then he asked Captain Bass his reasons. 
The captain said he had three : One was that they were 
both too young; the second, he was poor; the third, he 
was a foreigner. 

Mr. Orr answered : " We are both growing older every 
day, and I do not always expect to be poor ; and as to 
being a foreigner, I am not to blame for that." 

Captain Bass sent Mary away to Boston. Not long 
after Mr. Orr came riding down and jumped off his horse 
and threw the reins over the post, and went in to see 
Captain Bass and his wife, and said : t% I have been to see 
Mary ; she is very well." The old captain answered, " If 
that is your w T ay, we may as well withdraw our objections 
to the match," and they were married. 



FACTORY SOLDIERS. 6 J 

He soon owned the scythe works, and everything 
prospered that he put his hand to. He was a very 
superior, enterprising man, and introduced a great many 
improvements in manufacturing in the town, and took a 
great interest in national affairs. He was a state senator 
and very extensively known throughout the country. 

When the British army was in Boston, there were 
several Scotch regiments. Mr. Orr was so well known 
and so famous that the officers used to come out and see 
him. He was talking to them one day about this country's 
gaining its independence. One of the officers said it was 
an impossibility, because the country had no soldiers. 
Mr. Orr replied, "My men are all soldiers. After I shut 
down the factory tonight, I should like to have you see 
them." After he shut down the factory he got his boys 
and workmen into line and asked one of the officers to 
drill them. The officer did, and he was very much sur- 
prised to see what knowledge and efficiency they had in 
manoeuvring. He turned to Mr. Orr and said : k * If 
other people's boys are as smart as yours, you will gain 
your independence." 

When the war commenced Mr. Orr went right to work 
getting out his cannons. They were cast down in that 
part of Bridgewater near Tilicut. They had a great deal 
of trouble getting them into his old scythe mill to bore and 
finish them. lie received a contract from the I 
States government for the making of cannons in 177 

Mr. Orr had a family of ten children, two sons and 



6S THE ORR FAMILY. 

eight daughters. They all married but one daughter. 
His son Robert was a colonel in the Revolutionary army, 
and at the close of the war was superintendent of the 
Springfield armory. Hugh Orr was one of the greatest 
men that ever lived in his section of the country. He had 
a mind well stored with wisdom, was an inventive genius, 
and possessed a good temper and amiable disposition, 
which has been transmitted to his descendents down to the 
fourth generation. He died December 6, 179S, aged 82. 
His wife died July 17, 1804, a g e d 80. 



(69) 



Long Lived. 

Reminiscences of John Whitman and Ebenezer Cobb. 

Deacon John Whitman of East Bridgewater, was born 
March 28, 1735, and died July 20, 1S42, at the age of 107 
years, 3 months, 22 days. 

Ebenezer Cobb of Kingston, born in April, 1694, and 
died December 8, 1801, aged 107 years, 8 months and 6 
days. 

Deacon John Whitman was a farmer, having a farm on 
the banks of the river adjoining the famous great herring 
weir at Satucket, where herring and shad were caught by 
the millions, which was a great blessing to the poor people 
thereabouts. It should have been so to this day, but the 
corporations killed it. 

It was once my good fortune to be a farmer, and I used 
to work with the deacon ; hoe and work with him when 
he was nearly 100 years old. I was a boy then of 15 or 
16 years. He raised flax and kept sheep. He told me 
that when he Was a young man he used to go down to 
New Jersey and make shingles in the winter in that great 
cedar swamp that lies between Hoboken and Newark. 
There were great cedar trees there, some nearly four feet 
in diameter. 



7 o 



A CENTENARIAN. 



Deacon Whitman was a plucky man ; he was never 
known to run, but was always steady and quiet. When 
he was quite a young man he was getting hay down 
in front of his house near the river. His father was on 
the cart, the cattle started, he fell off and was killed. The 
deacon coolly got him on his back, carried him into the 
house, and laying his father's body before his mother, he 
said : " Here is father, dead." There is not one man in a 
thousand who could have done that. 

Deacon Whitman raised a large family in which there 
were three sons who became Unitarian ministers. In his 
old age he always walked with a straight staff, for 
he was an upright man. If he ever leaned over a 
fence to pray, he would be sure to pray for those on 
both sides. 

Not long before he died Judge Mitchell, who lived up 
in the village, went down to see him. The old man's 
memory was a little shaken, and he did not know him. 
The judge asked him if he was at the raising of Mr. 
Latham's big barn. Mr. Whitman said : " Oh, yes; were 
you there? I remember the Joppa boys were there.'' 
When asked who Cushing Mitchell married, he replied, 
" Jennet Orr." They had children: Nahum, Jennet and 
Alice. Alice married William Harris ; Jennet, Daniel 
Bryant ; Nahum went to college, became a lawyer, a 
judge, and was a member of Congress in 1S13 and 1S14. 
Nahum Mitchell died Aug. 1, 1S5S, on the occasion of the 
first celebration of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. 



FOOD, NOT PHYSIC. 7l 

He took the train at East Bridgewater, on the morning of 
that day, for Plymouth, and upon arriving there found 
that he had been robbed of his pocketbook. It produced 
such a shock that he fell upon the street, and was taken up 
to the house of Mrs. E. W. Drew, 69 Court street, where 
he died. He was 84 years of age. He was also a 
historian. 

The story of the life of Mr. Ebenezer Cobb was given 
me by Mr. Stetson of Kingston. Mr. Cobb was a farmer, 
having a farm near Rocky Nook. I have been in his old 
house, which is still standing. The parlors are so 
arranged that cannon could be placed in them so that 
they would sweep everything down to the sea. 

When Mr. Cobb was somewhat over 100 years old, he 
was taken sick and a doctor called, who informed him 
that it was doubtful if he would live out the night. A 
few friends called at his home to sit up with him, one of 
whom was a sea captain. During the night Mr. Cobb 
woke up, and said the' doctor was starving him. When 
asked what he would like to eat, he replied, " Corned 
beef and cabbage." There was some in a dish upon the 
table, which the captain gave to him. After eating 
heartily, he said he felt much better, and went to sleep. 
When the doctor called, the next morning, he was sur- 
prised at his improvement. He lived four or five years 
afterward. 

Mr. Cobb remembered Peregrine White's funeral in 
1703. He was the first white child born in the colony. 



72 HERRING AND LONGEVITY. 

It is a singular coincidence that Deacon Whitman and 
Ebenezer Cobb lived right alongside of a herring weir, 
and the question is advanced, did the eating of herring 
have anything to do with their long lives ? They liked 
herring, and their appetites were always good. Both men 
were blessed with the most even temper. 



(73) 



Silver and Gold. 

The Old Days axd Now. 

In the year 1807, when I was but a small boy, I lived in 
a place called Old Joppa, a little village in East Bridge- 
water. One day, in company with half a dozen of my 
companions, we took a walk down to Robbins' pond, 
which contained several hundred acres, and which was 
some two or three miles from the village. In the centre 
of the pond was a splendid island called Paw Waw, now 
known as the Picnic island. 

Living alone upon this island was a remnant of an old 
Indian tribe. One of the squaws, named Bet Jess, took a 
liking to me, and told me she would give me an Indian 
puppy if I would carry it home. Of course I took the 
dog and thanked her graciously for her kindness. I made 
him a very comfortable home in the back yard, and the 
little fellow caused lots of trouble. He was continually at 
war with the white man, and would always express his 
hatred by barking and a gnashing of teeth. Finally I sold 
him for 50 cents and took my pay in paper money. 

General Sylvanus Lazell was a great man in those days. 

He was the owner of a forge, a manufacturer of iron and 

nails, and carried on extensively the grocery business. He 

issued 25 and 50 cent bills, taking them for all dues and 

f 



74 SILVER BOY AND SILVER MAN. 

redeeming them in silver. I changed my paper script for 
a silver half dollar ; the first one I ever possessed. I was 
a silver boy, and have been a silver man ever since. The 
soldiers of the war of 1812 were paid oft' in silver. In the 
war of the Rebellion our soldiers were paid oft' in legal 
tenders worth 33 cents on $1 in gold. 



(75) 



An Old-Time Tanner. 

Jacob Putnam, of Salem, in 1809 bought land and built 
a tannery in that place. Thomas Perkins, a retired 
merchant in Salem, had a cargo of Buenos Ayres hides, 
which he offered to Mr. Putnam at 8 cents per pound, 
allowing as long credit as he wished, at 6 per cent, 
interest. He took, however, only 2,000. Mr. Perkins 
asked him why he would not take more. He answered 
that he feared he could not sell the leather. Mr. Perkins 
replied: "You know that children are born barefooted 
and must have shoes, and the leather will be wanted." 
He took only the 2,000, but when they were tanned, he 
got 25 cents per pound for the leather. 

Mr. Putnam continued in the business until his death, 
in 1875, and was also engaged in the East India trade, 
owning several vessels in the Sumatra and China trade, 
his son, George F. Putnam, being partner with him. His 
salesroom in 1885 was at No. 22 South street, Boston. 
Their business has continued for the last seventy-six years. 
The term u oldest and richest" well applies to them. 



(76) 



Some Facts About Salt. 

The Austrian bark Tilde, which arrived in Boston, 
brought the first cargo of salt from Augusta, Sicily, ever 
imported at Boston from that port. The shipper had 
heard of the great and glorious free country owning both 
sides of the continent and thought it would be a good 
thing to bring a cargo of salt from a place where it makes 
itself to a cold country where it does not make. When 
he arrived in Boston with a cargo of 950 tons of salt, lie 
found the duty on the same to be fully no per cent. The 
cost of the cargo was $1,520, the duty 8 cents on 100 
pounds, on the 950 tons amounting to $1,702.40. The 
shipper found himself in a tight place. He had never 
heard of the five kings, but upon inquiry, however, he 
found that King Salt would let fishermen have salt free of 
duty, first signing a bond that they would not let the meat 
eaters have any of it. Therefore, the people can eat their 
broth fresh, the farmers their bread without butter, or but- 
ter without salt. The laboring- man can only pepper his 
soup. The politicians can scratch their heads, but if they 
say anything against the tariff commission, the) may share 
the fate of Lot's wife. 



(77) 



Shoes For Soldiers. 

At the breaking out of the Rebellion I resided at Joppa 
Village, East Bridgewater, and took a contract for making 
army shoes ; they were all sewed, and it was very difficult 
to secure workmen. I had samples made, sewed by the 
McKay machine, and I carried them to Washington and 
presented them to Secretary of War Stanton, and asked 
him if he would accept them in my contract, and he said 
he would if I would warrant the sewing. I told him that 
I would, and would stamp my name on every pair, if he 
would issue an order that he would not receive any shoes 
unless the manufacturer's name was stamped on them. 
He did issue that order, and thereby the army got the best 
shoes that any army ever had. I manufactured about 
300,000 pairs, and the government was very slow in 
making payments and the contractors were forced to sell 
their vouchers at 10 or 15 per cent., discount. 

The law was that all the army and navy shoes should 
be made of oak leather, and the price was 20 cents per 
pound higher than hemlock leather. I paid 60 cents per 
pound in Philadelphia, and also $10,000 more for oak 
leather than I would for hemlock on my own contract. 
Pennsylvania has oak bark and derived a great benefit 
from it. There was not half enough oak leather in the 



jS ARMY SHOES. 

country for the army, and they had to substitute what they 
called Union leather — oak leather stained. 

I think Massachusetts made more than half of all the 
shoes the army ever had. At the end of the war the 
government turned several thousand pairs back on to my 
hands. I had to suffer severe loss, and got no redress 
from the government. I got a contract at the opening of 
the first bid in New York and the last bid in Philadelphia. 
I went through Baltimore to Washington the morning of 
April 20, 1 861, and remained there through the dark 
week, and then went around to New York in the govern- 
ment steamer Keystone State. 



(79) 



Memoir of Plymouth County. 

From all early histories, it seems the Indian tribes came 
from the West, over the Alleghanies, and down the rivers, 
and spread all over the United States. The Pequots and 
Narragansetts were the first to learn the use of wampum 
for money to trade with, and became very wealthy and 
powerful ; while the other tribes unacquainted with its 
uses, fell into poverty and decay. 

Had America remained forever a sealed country to 
Europe, the desire of wampum alone might have elevated 
the Indians into merchants and navigators. Civilization 
would have followed the accumulation of property, and 
laws would have been established for its regulation and 
protection. Whether the great object of man's pursuit 
be wampum or gold, the desire of either, or in other words, 
the passion for the acquisition of property, will teach 
him the mode to secure it when acquired. 

All the tribes who inhabited that region comprised 
within the jurisdiction of New Plymouth, as well as 
Capervack or Nope (Martha's Vineyard), and Nantucket, 
were known by the general name of Pokanokets, and 
under this term many small tribes were included. The 
Wampanoags inhabited the country now called Bristol in 
Rhode Island. These were the particular tribe of Massa- 



8o DISCOVERY OF CORN. 

soit and afterwards of his son Metacomet (or Philip) ; 
the number of their warriors did not exceed sixty when 
the English arrived. The Pocassetts inhabited Swanzey, 
Somerset, part of Rehoboth and Tiverton. The sagamore 
of this tribe was Corbitant, who was succeeded by a 
female, the unfortunate Weetamore. The Saconets were 
the aboriginals of Little Compton ; they also in Philip's 
war were governed by a female sachem, Awashonks. 
The Namaskets were seated at Middleborough ; the 
Nausites at Eastham, on Cape Cod; the Mattachees at 
Barnstable ; the Monomoys at Chatham ; the Saugatucketts 
at Marshpee ; the Nobsquassetts at Yarmouth. All these 
tribes were subordinate to Massasoit. 

On November 15, 1620, sixteen men left the Mayflower 
in what is now the Harbor of Provincetown, completely 
armed, under the command of Captain Miles Standish. 
After marching about a mile in a southerly direction, they 
saw five Indians, who fled with precipitation. Night 
overtaking them, they rested. The next morning they 
followed the trace about ten miles ; they halted near a 
spring, from which they quaffed the first refreshing 
draught of American water. They also found a hole in 
the ground, covered with sand and lined with bark, con- 
taining some maize or Indian corn in ears — which they 
took. The greatest discovery made in America. 

The next day with much difficulty they reached the ship 
and delivered the corn into the common store. This act. 
however, was probably the means of saving the colony from 



EXPLORATIONS OF CAPE COD. 8 1 

starvation, for the grain was all saved for planting, and from 
its product they derived at one time their sole support. 

Seventeen days elapsed before the shallop could be 
prepared for sea, and they then undertook further dis- 
coveries. Jones, the captain, and ten of the crew arid 
twenty-four of the company, sailed up the bay during a 
high wind and a rough sea. The shallop soon anchored 
and landed part of the company, who were anxious to 
proceed. The weather was excessively cold and it 
snowed, yet these hardy men braved the inclemency of the 
elements unsheltered. 

The next day they went on board, and soon discovered 
a harbor, fit only, however, for boats, which they called 
Cold harbor (the mouth of Paomet creek, between Truro 
and Wellfleet). This is the place where a monument 
should be built. They shot some sea fowl, which they 
devoured with "soldiers' stomachs," and again went in 
pursuit of corn, which, although the ground was covered 
with snow, they fortunately discovered, as sand was 
heaped over the holes where it was concealed. They 
opened the frozen ground with their swords, and obtained 
.about ten bushels and some beans. The captain returned 
to the ship with the shallop, taking the corn. Fifteen of 
the men went with him; the other's remained. This corn 
saved them from starvation. From this small beginning 
it was introduced into the. South' and West, furnished the 
principal food for all the negroes, and millions upon 
millions of bushels have been shipped to Europe. 



82 THE FIRST WHITE BABE. 

Those who remained marched into the woods, and 
discovered for the first time two Indian houses, or wig- 
wams. They found in some baskets parched acorns and 
pieces of fish, and some venison in a hollow tree. Some 
of the best things they took. The shallop arriving, they 
returned in her to the ship. While they were absent, the 
wife of William White had borne a son, who received the 
name of Peregrine, the first white child which was born 
in New England. 

The following account taken from the Boston News 
Letter, being the fifteenth number of the first newspaper 
that was printed in North America, is given entire. 

"Marshfield, J ur y 22 « — Captain Peregrine White, of 
this town, aged 83 years and 8 months, died here the 20th 
instant. He was vigorous and of a comely aspect to the 
last ; was the son of William White and Susanna his 
wife, born on board the Mayflower, Captain Jones, com- 
mander, in Cape Cod harbor, 1620; the first Englishman 
born in New England." 

The ship, with all the company, sailed on the 15th of 
December, and anchored in Plymouth harbor on the 16th. 
On the 2 2d the company left the vessel and landed on a 
rock near the shore, which now bears a consecrated 
character, to which pilgrimages are made, and to which 
the posterity of the pilgrims delight to throng, to call up 
the divine associations with which its history is connected, 
and to view the spot which received their forefathers. 

On the 31st of December they named their settlement 



A VISIT FROM SAMOSET. 83 

Plymouth, because this place had been so called by Captain 
Smith, who had previously surveyed the harbor, and they 
remembered the kindness which they had experienced 
from the people of Plymouth in England. And on this 
day (it being Sunday),, they worshipped for the first time 
at this place. 

The Indians had hitherto kept aloof from the settlers, 
but on the 16th of March one came in alone, and with 
great boldness addressed them by saying, " Welcome 
Englishmen." He informed them that he was a sagamore, 
and that he lived at some distance, but had been for some 
time in the vicinity of the settlement, and that his name 
was Samoset. He appeared to possess a thorough 
knowledge of the neighboring country and its inhabitants. 
He informed them that the place where they were was 
called Patuxet, and that a few years previous to their 
landing all its inhabitants died of a plague, of such a 
deadly nature that it spared neither man, woman nor child, 
and that no one could make any claim to the land, or 
rightfully molest them. He also informed them that their 
next neighbors were the Wampanoags (the English sup- 
posed he called them Massasoits, but that was the name of 
their chief sachem), that they had sixty warriors, and that 
the Nausites, to the southeast, could raised a hundred. 

The next day the English dismissed Samoset with 
presents, after requiring him to cause the restoration of 
some tools which had been stolen in the woods, and after 
he had promised to return with some of Massasoit's men 



$4 INDIAN CALLERS. 

to bring beaver skins for traffic. He soon returned with 
five Nausites, dressed and painted in all the extravagance 
of the Indian fashion, and bringing back the tools which 
had been lost ; they were received with much hospitality 
by the English, and made many demonstrations of friend- 
ship, feeding heartily upon the food which was set before 
them, and singing and dancing after their manner. They 
brought some skins, but the English would enter into no 
traffic on the Lord's day. They departed, extremely 
gratified with their reception, and promised to return and 
bring more skins. 

Samoset, feigning himself sick, remained a day or two 
longer ; he was then despatched to find the other Indians. 
While lie was absent, two or three Indians appeared on 
the hill, using threatening gestures, ,but Standish and 
another approaching them armed, they fled, after making 
a show of defiance. On the next day, March 22, Samoset 
returned, in company with four others, amongst whom 
was Squanto or Tisquantum, who was the sole remaining 
native of Patuxet. Squanto had resided for some time in 
London with one Slany, a merchant, and had learned a 
little English. They brought some skins and a few fish to 
sell, and informed the English that the great sagamore, 
Massasoit, with Quadequina his brother, and all his force, 
were near. Massasoit soon appeared on the hill with 
sixty men. 

The English were unwilling that the governor should go 
to them, and they were apprehensive of approaching the 



MEETING WITH MASSASOIT. 8$ 

English. Squanto was despatched to ascertain their 
designs, and they signified through him that they were 
desirous that some one should be sent to hold a parley. 
Edward Winslow was sent with presents for the chief, 
which were willingly accepted, and Winslow's address 
was heard with great attention, although the interpreters 
did not succeed very well in explaining it. He told the 
sachem that " King James saluted him with the words of 
love and peace, and did accept of him as his friend and 
ally, and that the governor desired to see him, and to trade 
with him, and to live on friendly terms with his near neigh- 
bor." The sword and armor of Winslow caught the atten- 
tion of the sachem, and he expressed a wish to buy them ; 
but the sword and armor of Edward Winslow were not for 
sale. 

Leaving Winslow in the custody of his brother, and 
followed by twenty men, who left their bows and arrows 
behind, he crossed a brook which ran between him and 
the English. Captain Standish and Mr. Williamson, with 
six men armed with muskets, met the sachem at the brook, 
and after salutations had been exchanged, attended him to 
the house and placed a green rug and three or four cushions 
on the floor for his accommodation. The governor pre- 
ceded with a flourish of a drum and trumpet (the sound of 
which excessively delighted the Indians), and followed by 
several soldiers, entered the house. The governor and 
sachem, after saluting each other, sat down together and 
regaled themselves with meat and drink ; and then the 



86 A TREATY AGREED UPON. 

following treaty was proposed by the governor and agreed 
to by Massasoit : 

i. That neither he, nor any of his, should injure or do 
hurt to any of their people. 

2. That if any of his did hurt to any of theirs, he should 
send the offender that they might punish him. 

3. That if anything was taken away from any of theirs, 
he should cause it to be restored ; and they should do the 
like to his. 

4. That if any did unjustly war against him, they would 
aid him ; and if any did war against them, he* should aid 
them. 

5. That he should send to his neighbor confederates, to 
inform them of this, that they might not wrong them, but 
might likewise be comprised in these conditions of peace. 

6. That when his men came to them upon any occasion, 
they should leave their arms (which were bows and 
arrows), behind them. 

Lastly. That so doing, King James would esteem him 
as his friend and ally. 

All which he liked well, and at the same time acknowl- 
edged himself content to become the subject of the king 
aforesaid, his heirs and successors ; and gave unto them 
all the lands adjacent, to them and their heirs forever. 
Thus was concluded the first treaty between the English 
and the Indians of New Plymouth ; a treaty, though 
simple in its terms, important in its consequences; for it 
was a treaty of peace, and of alliance offensive and defen- 



FRIENDLY INTERCOURSE. 87 

sive, and its conditions were faithfully observed for a 
period of fifty-five years, exhibiting an instance of un- 
exampled good faith, fidelity and honesty, in both parties. 

Although Massasoit was pleased with the result of the 
conference, yet he was under great alarm, which was 
manifested by his trembling. He was a large and 
good-looking man, but very grave and taciturn in his 
deportment. 

The sachem and his followers, after leaving six or seven 
hostages for Mr. Winslow, retired with their wives and 
children into the woods, where they slept during the night. 
Quadequina, and those who were with him, were well 
received by the English, and were conveyed back, together 
with the hostages, and Winslow returned. These Indians 
promised to plant their corn and to dwell near the English 
during the approaching summer. During the night the 
English kept strict watch. The next morning the Indians 
visited them again, and informed them that the sachem 
washed to see some of them. Captain Standish and Isaac 
Allerton immediately ventured to go amongst them and 
were kindly received. There was not the slightest indica- 
tion of hostility on the part of the Indians. The English 
pursued their usual occupations in the woods, and were 
not molested. 

The sachem was the more induced to cultivate the 
friendship of the English, inasmuch as he was very 
apprehensive of the Narragansetts, a powerful and hostile 
tribe in his vicinity. On the next day the Indians returned 



88 DEA II OF THE GOVERNOR. 

to Sovvans (in ancient Swansey, near the present town of 
Warren, in Rhode Island) , their headquarters. 

Samoset and Squanto, who had contracted a strong 
affection for the English, remained with them, and 
instructed them in the manner of taking fish, and in the 
simple agriculture of their countrymen, showing them how 
the corn should be planted and how the ground should be 
manured with alewives (of which immense quantities came 
into the brook), and rendered them many kind offices. 
Squanto also acted as their pilot, conducting them to all 
the places where any traffic could be had, and never left 
them during his life. They planted twenty acres to corn, 
and six to barley and peas. The corn produced well, but 
the barley and peas failed. 

On the 5th of April the colony met with a great loss in 
the death of Governor Carver. He had been working in 
the field, but left it at noon, complaining of a severe pain 
in his head, which was caused, as he supposed, by the sun. 
He soon became senseless, and in a few days died. The 
grief of the colonists was almost inconsolable. They 
buried him with the honors of war. His wife, who was 
strongly attached to him, overcome with sorrow, survived 
him but six weeks. He was a man of great prudence, 
integrity and firmness of mind. He had a good estate in 
England, which he spent in the emigration to Holland and 
America. He was one of the foremost in action, and 
bore a large share in suffering in the service of the colony, 
who confided in him as their friend and father. 



RELIEF OF MASSASOIT. SO. 

Piety, humility and benevolence were eminent traits in 
his character, and it is particularly remarked that in the 
time of general sickness which befell the colony, and with 
which he was affected, after he had himself recovered, he 
was assiduous in attending the sick, and performing the 
most humble services for them, without any distinction of 
persons or character. 

A grandson of Governor Carver, who lived at Marsh- 
field, acquired some notoriety in consequence of his 
extreme age, having lived until he was 102. This grand- 
son was alive as late as 1755? for in that year he was seen' 
laboring in the same field with his son, grandson and great 
grandson, while an infant of the fifth generation was in the 
house. 

Governor Bradford heard that Massasoit was down 
among the Narragansetts, and very sick. He had been 
such a good friend and faithful ally to the colonists, that 
Governor Bradford felt in duty bound to do all he could 
for him. With much difficulty he selected Mr. Winslow 
and John Hampden to run the risk of going to his 
assistance. 

Mr. Winslow found him in nearly a dying condition ; he 
had not received any food for several days, and he was in 
such condition that he could not swallow any hard 
substance. The Indians had nothing to give him but their 
hard meat. Winslow, taking some conserve on the point 
of a knife, gave it to him. It dissolved in his mouth and 
he swallowed it. Winslow then washed his mouth, which 



90 FOREWARNING OF DANGER. 

was excessively furred, and dissolving some of the con- 
serve in water, the sachem drank it. Winslow then 
prepared some broth from corn meal, and mixing it with 
strawberry leaves and sassafras root, gave it to him to 
drink. Everything which was administered produced a 
favorable effect, and these simple remedies left him free 
from the disorder which had brought him so near to death. 
He then requested Winslow to administer the like remedies 
to all the sick. 

Many had come to visit him who lived a hundred miles 
from his residence. The gratitude of this simple-hearted 
and honest sachem was unbounded. "Now," said he, 
" I see the English are my friends and love me, and whilst 
I live, I will never forget this kindness." During their 
stay they were treated with the utmost kindness and 
attention. When they were about to depart the sachem 
privately informed Hobbomock of the existence of the plot 
against Weston's colony ; that the people of Xauset, 
Paomet, Succonet (Falmouth), Mattachiest, Manomet, 
Agawam and the Isle of Capawack were in confederacy 
with the Massachusetts ; that during his sickness he had 
been earnestly solicited to join them, but he had refused ; 
neither would he suffer any of his own tribe to engage in 
this conspiracy ; that there was no way to avert the 
threatened danger unless the Massachusetts were attacked ; 
that if the English regarded their own safety, thev had 
better strike the first blow, for after the settlers at 
Wessagusset had been killed, it would be difficult for the 



INDIAN INQUISITIVENESS. 9 1 

Plymouth people to sustain themselves against so many 
enemies. He earnestly counseled Hobbomock that the 
principals should be taken off without delay, and then the 
affair should be terminated. And he charged him to 
acquaint Winslow of the designs of these hostile Indians 
immediately, so that the governor might have early 
information thereof, which was done. 

Winslow and Hampden departed from Sowams, followed 
by the blessing of Massasoit and all his people. Corbitant 
urged them to remain with him one night at Mattapoiset, 
to which they consented, and he treated them with the 
most generous hospitality. They found him a shrewd 
politician and a merry companion, delighting both to give 
okes and to take them, and extremely inquisitive as to the 
customs of the English. Among other things he inquired 
of Winslow whether if he should be sick the governor of 
Plymouth would send him maskiet (physic), and whether 
he would come to see him. Upon Winslow's answer in 
the affirmative, lie expressed great joy and gave him many 
thanks. He inquired- of Winslow how he dared to come 
with only one Englishman so far into the country. Win- 
slow told him that he was conscious of his own uprightness, 
he had no fear. He complained of the strict guard which 
was kept at Plymouth when the Indians visited there, and 
would not believe Winslow when he endeavored to per- 
suade him it was for his honor. Corbitant inquired into 
the reason of asking grace and returning thanks before and 
after eating. Winslow endeavored to impress his mind 



Q2 PUNISHMENT OF TREACHERY. 

with the importance of gratitude to God for his goodness, 
and instructed him in the Commandments. Corbitant said 
the Indians believed almost the same things, and that the 
Being which the English called God, the Indians called 
Kichtan. 

In the morning the English departed, highly pleased 
with Corbitant's treatment. The next night they lodged 
at Namasket, and then returned to Plymouth. Here they 
found the Paomet Indian, who had come, with Standish, 
still urging him to go to his country; but suspicion being 
now awakened, no credit was given to his professions, but 
he was sent away unharmed. They notified Captain 
Standish ; he immediately with a small party went down 
and met those warriors near Weymouth. After trying in 
vain to make a treaty with them, he got them into a tent 
and despatched them, thereby saving the colony. 
Baylies' Memoir of Plymouth Colony says : 
" These were the men who produced a greater revolution 
in the world than Columbus. He, in seeking for India, 
discovered America ; they, in pursuit of religious freedom, 
established civil liberty ; and meaning only to found a 
church, gave birth to a nation ; in settling a town com- 
menced an empire, destined in two centuries to become 
one of the greatest on earth. Little thinking that their 
dominion would be extended from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific ocean ; that their posterity would become as 
numerous as the sands on the seashore ; that they w r ere 
about to extend their laws, language and religion over a 



MILES STANDISH S SWORD. 93 

country almost equalling in extent the whole of Europe ; 
but '< the wisdom of the Almighty is past rinding out.' " 

The most remarkable sword I ever saw is that of Miles 
Standish, in Memorial hall, Plymouth. It is an old 
Persian sword, supposed to be thousands of years old. 
The blade is all engraved with hieroglyphic signs. I do 
not know what others did with it, but on the first exploring 
expedition from the Mayflower, Miles Standish used it to 
dig up the frozen ground and unearth the corn buried there 
by the Indians. 



(94) 



The Burton Stock Car. 

A Most Needed Improvement of Our Times. 

My attention has been .called to the subject of the 
transportation of cattle in cars by examining a Burton car, 
now on exhibition in the Pennsylvania railroad ticket 
office, on Washington street, near Sears building. I feel 
rejoiced that a more humane method of transporting cattle 
is about to be introduced and adopted. This idea is not 
entirely a new one, for many persons of humane instincts 
have heretofore thought upon this matter and have prac- 
tically tested the necessity of some radical improvement in 
this important branch of internal transportation. Not 
many years ago I made a sale of some Jersey cattle I had 
reared on my farm in the village of Joppa, Bridgewater, 
Mass., to be transported to Chicago. I paid $250 for a 
car from the Boston & Albany railroad, which was sent to 
Bridgewater. There I employed a carpenter to so arrange 
the car that each creature could lie down. I placed a man 
in charge of the car, and went ahead myself to meet it at 
different points along the route to be ready with food and 
plenty of water. When I arrived there with the cattle I 
witnessed the unloading of cattle from the West, and 
almost every car contained either a dead or crippled ox or 



THE AUTHOR'S METHOD. 95 

steer. Horns and legs were broken, and a most inhuman 
state of affairs was presented. 

I requested the editor of a local newspaper to give notice 
through his paper that my car would reach the stock yards 
at a certain time and invited the public to examine the 
condition of my stock after the long journey. More than 
five hundred people came out to see the condition of the 
cattle which had been placed in the car eight days 
previously. The cattle were bright and in splendid condi- 
tion, and the press stated that it was the best carload of 
cattle, so far as appearance and condition was concerned, 
ever landed in Chicago. 

The point which I wish to make is very plain to be seen. 
It is a matter of grave concern connected with the trans- 
portation of live stock, from one point to another, whether 
or not the railroads should be further permitted to carry 
cattle without suitable accommodations for the creatures to 
lie down and to partake of food and water. In these days, 
when everybody seems to be running wild regarding a 
reform of the best civil service in the world, would it not 
be well to give this subject, where the welfare of dumb 
animals is at stake, a passing thought? 

Congress ought to restrain the transportation companies 
from the cruel way they allow cattle to be huddled into 
cars where there is no chance for them to lie down, and no 
chance provided for feeding and watering. Cattle are 
frequently carried for days in this inhuman manner, and 
the time has come when a radical change should take 



96 HUMANITARIAN SUPERVISION NEEDED. 

place, and when public opinion should condemn the 
past methods of railroads. There is no need of longer 
practicing these cruelties, for I believe that in Burton's 
cars a load of cattle could be taken from Colorado and 
landed in Boston in as good condition as when they were 
put in. It is well kn6wn that the meat of a diseased or 
fevered animal is unfit to be eaten, and very little of the 
«tock now arriving from the West is in a healthy condition, 
yet we must eat it or go without the beef. 

The same spirit of cruelty which in the past chained 
helpless negro slaves together in gangs of ten or twenty, 
and in this condition would drive them on a boat at St. 
Louis to remain manancled together till the boat reached 
New Orleans, now exhibits itself in a similar cruelty in 
the treatment of our dumb animals. Has not the time come 
to change this altogether? 

It is a strange fact in view of the remarkable achieve- 
ments made by the railroads of this country for the comfort 
and convenience of human travelers, that prior to 18S2, 
there had been little or no improvement in the mode of 
shipment of live stock, which forms an item of such vast 
importance. The same methods prevailed until then, as 
existed when railroads were first built ; and a very small 
portion of the people know what this " method" has been 
and how it has been improved by the humane invention of 
the company whose name heads this article. 

To present to our readers an adequate idea of the cruelty 
and extreme neglect to which cattle have been and are 



EVILS OF THE OLD SYSTEM. 97 

subjected while in transportation by the old method, would 
be simply impossible. They are crowded into the car 
until not one more can be forced in, and then they are 
started on their journey. To say nothing of the violent 
bumping and knocking about they get while the train is 
" making up," the neglect to furnish proper food at 
proper intervals occasions intense suffering . among the 
cattle, and it is only when the train is " side-tracked" for 
the convenience of the road generally, that the animals 
receive food. Then the operation is but imperfectly per- 
formed, as they must be driven out to be watered and 
' ; jammed" back again ; and should it not be convenient 
to those in charge to feed and water, it is left over till they 
stop again. 

The physical needs of cattle call for prompt and sufficient 
attention, when they are deprived of the free exercise of 
their own instincts in self sustenance, and the amount of 
suffering occasioned by this neglect cannot be realized. 

On the old plan, the attention must be inadequate. It 
has been clearly proved that packing cattle in the manner 
that style of shipment calls for, is entirely detrimental to 
health and good condition of the beef. The frequent 
"proddings" by cruel and inhuman keepers, often results 
in poisonous sores and malignant bruises, and the constant 
rubbing together of their bodies transmits deleterons 
influences, and the consequences are incalculable. 

Then if a steer is so unfortunate as to get down, through 
weakness, or disease, or lack of food, he is scarcely 



98 THE NEW METHOD. 

ever able to rise again, but is trampled under the feet 
of the rest, and many are thus horribly mangled and 
rendered unfit for slaughtering. Of course all this is loss 
to the shipper. The poorer the condition in which cattle 
arrive, the less the shipper receives for them ; and in the 
same proportion the consumer is obliged to pay an unfair 
price for an inferior article of food. 

The subject of the humane transportation of cattle has 
been one of deep interest, and has resulted in the invention 
the Burton stock car, and the formation of the Burton 
Stock Car Company, whose design has been not only to 
present a means for the humane treatment of cattle, but 
also to land them in Boston and the East in as good 
condition as when shipped. This they do ; and ample 
evidence of the performance of all they claim is show by 
the array of testimonials with which they have been 
favored, which include communications and indorsements 
from all the leading shippers throughout the West, and 
from nearly every point on the coast to which beef is 
shipped, from Maine to the Gulf. Backed by this evidence 
of the worth of their car, the Burton Company are confi- 
dent that they have solved the complex problem of the 
proper transportation of beef on the hoof. 

The car is so arranged that the cattle stand lengthwise 
instead of across, and is built to hold sixteen head, aver- 
aging 1,500 pounds each, or twenty head of yearlings or 
two-year-olds. The animals are watered and fed without 
removing them from the car, and while the train is moving, 



" CONDITIONS, NOT THEORIES." 99 

the feed being carried in a receptacle for that purpose, and 
the water supplied by the same cranes "that feed the 
locomotive. In every fifth or sixth car in a train of these 
cars, is a specially apportioned apartment for the use of 
the attendants, and the many means of connection and 
easy communications between the various departments 
make it a comparatively easy task to attend them, and one 
man can do it in an amply efficient manner. 

The record of the company is really remarkable, one of 
the feats being the shipment in three days of a load of stock 
from Chicago to Boston. These arrived in such excellent 
condition that, instead of being held to be brought up to 
the requisite standard, they were declared sound and 
reshipped at once on board of the steamer. On another 
occasion this company shipped thirteen cars of blooded 
stock from Boston to Kansas City, via the Fitchburg 
railroad, the trip requiring only five days and four hours, 
and have evidence that they arrived in as good condition as 
when shipped. 

No great staple of interstate commerce has been sub- 
jected to more grievous exaction in course of transportation 
than cattle. From the time cattle began to be carried over 
rails to the present, there has been no improvement in the 
methods of carrying, no effort by the transporter to miti- 
gate the sufferings of the animals, none to protect the 
consumer from the hazard of bad meats, and none to 
cheapen the commodity to the increasing millions to whom 
it is a daily necessity, or to protect the Western grower in 



IOO COMPARISONS WORTH STUDYING. 

his just profits. On the contrary, the whole business 
appears to have been given up as a prey to grasping rings 
from first to last, by whom producer and consumer have 
been impartially fleeced, with the active aid and assistance 
of the common carrier. 

In October, 1890, the Burton Stock Car Company fur- 
nished to the Aztec Land and Cattle Company fifteen cars, 
to be loaded with the same class of cattle as the same 
number of common death pens and run between the same 
points. The following is the result, as reported by Mr. 
Erskine R. Merrell, of Walter C. Weedon & Co., Kansas 
City: 

The shrinkage in the common cars was 1 10 pounds per 
animal, which aggregates 79,200 pounds, and which at 
selling price, 2% cents per pound, equals $2,178. Those 
in the Burton car shrank 55 pounds as against no pounds 
in the common cars. These cattle were loaded promiscu- 
ously from the herd at Arizona, into Burton and common 
cars, allowing the Burton cars forty minutes start, which 
were deducted at the end of the run. The saving in favor 
of the Burton cars was $1 ,089, on the one shipment, besides 
gaining four entire days in point of time ; that is, the stock 
loaded in the Burton cars arrived at Chicago four days 
earlier than those loaded in the common cars. The stock 
in the Burton cars was in so much better condition as to 
have obtained 25 cents per hundred weight better price, 
making an additional gain of $1,386, or a total net profit 
over the old stock cars on this one lot of cattle of $2. 47s. 



OPPOSITION NOT LACKING. IOI 

The distance from Holbrook, Arizona, to Chicago, Illinois, 
is 1,705 miles. 

Naturally, shippers, and particularly shippers of valu- 
able stock, sought these cars so eagerly, that the railroad 
company were put to their wits' end to find excuses for 
raising the rates to a point high enough to prohibit their 
use. They would put on one day a rate which seemed 
sufficient to " snuff out the enterprise," only to find on the 
next that many shippers were still willing to pay it, and 
saw their profit in it. Instead of paying the mileage, as in 
the case of other " foreign cars," they taxed it both ways, 
empty and loaded. The Southwestern " pool " solemnly 
adjudicated the matter, and determined that 5 cents a mile 
each way upon the humane cars was a very fair rate for a 
steady thing. An appeal to the railroad and warehouse 
commissioners of Illinois brought a decision sustaining the 
pool enormity. On one occasion the Union Pacific 
took a round $610 on a single Burton car from Kansas 
City to Los Angeles, Cal. 

The situation is this : If the cars were not discriminated 
against, if they were hauled whenever offered on the same 
terms as other foreign cars, the company would gather up 
the business just as fast as it could build cars to do it, and 
just precisely in that proportion would the business of the 
concatenated cattle rings decrease. Repeated tests of the 
Burton feeding and watering cars by intelligent shippers 
prove conclusively that from 50 to 70 per cent, of this 
shrinkage in common stock cars can be saved, and the 



io3 THE LAW AND ITS EVASION. 

animals landed at market in shorter time, and so much 
better condition as to command ready sale at an advance 
of from 15 to 50 cents per hundred more than like cattle 
bring on the same market shipped in common cars. 

The passage of the interstate commerce bill will correct 
some of the worst of the abuses in this cattle traffic. It 
forbids rebates, and that would cut off the $15 per car to 
the eveners. It forbids discrimination, and that would, 
if fairly interpreted and enforced, compel the railroads to 
haul improved cattle cars without delay and on fair terms. 
Still the iniquities of the stock yards would remain, until 
the entire business of carrying cattle should be done on 
the new system. Moreover, anyone reading the decision 
of the Illinois commissioners in the case of the Burton 
car will see how readily experts, bent upon discrimination, 
would find pretexts for evading a statute which merely 
forbade discriminations in general terms — as the inter- 
state commerce bill provides — when applied to a question 
of common stock cars and improved ones, or between 
classes of the latter. 

The company's offices are located at 194 Washington 
street, Boston; Chicago, Kansas City, and Washington. 
D. C. 

The Burton Stock Car Company has now between 
12,000 and 13,000 cars in active operation. These car- 
are operated over all the railroads of the United State-. 
The main plant of the company, covering thirty-five a( 
is located at Wichita, Kan. At this plant new cars of the 



HEADQUARTERS AND OFFICES. IO3 

company are constructed. Repairs are also done here on 
the cars of the company, as well as upon cars of railroads 
and private companies. Repair shops are maintained at 
Kansas City and Chicago. The plant at Chicago covers a 
space of six acres. 

The headquarters of the company are at Boston, with 
agencies at New York, Chicago, Lexington, Ky. ; Kansas 
City, Nashville, Tenn. ; Buffalo, N. Y. ; Washington and 
San Francisco. 



(io 4 ) 



Trip to Washington. 

A Reminiscence of a Journey Under Difficulties. 

On the 19th of April, 1S61, I resided in Joppa village, 
East Bridgewater, that patriotic old town of Revolutionary 
fame. If she did not fire the first gun, she cast the first 
cannon made in the colonies. The founder, the Hon. 
Hugh Orr, had a contract with the government, and cast 
the first cannon in 1775. At the battle of Saratoga, where 
Burgoyne w r as captured, the town lost a captain and two 
men from her company. 

After the fall of Sumter, in 1S61, knowing that the 
government would need shoes for its soldiers during the 
coming war, and being a shoe manufacturer, I started for 
Washington with samples of my goods. I took the early 
morning train from Boston, on the 19th of April, and 
started at 8 o'clock for New York, where I arrived in the 
afternoon. The New York Seventh Regiment was 
marching down Broadway, making it impossible to cross 
the streets near the depot. By a flank movement I finally 
reached Hoboken. The Seventh Regiment was started off 
from there first, and the passenger train was despatched 
immediately afterward, but before it reached Philadelphia 
it passed the train carrying the troops. When we arrived 



GEN. BUTLER TAKES PO: ESSION. IO5 

at Philadelphia, we found General Butler awaiting the 
arrival of the Seventh Regiment. Our train was pushed 
along at once, and on arrival at Havre-de-Grace I went on 
board the boat. 

Our conductor said to the captain of the boat, " An 
extra train of twenty-five cars, bringing General Butler 
and his troops, will be along in about an hour, and they 
will want to cross at once." 

The captain snapped his fingers, and with an oath 
replied, " I guess they will." 

General Butler arrived promptly ; the boat was not at 
the wharf, but soon came in, and the general at once 
marched his men on board and took possession of the boat, 
saying to the captain, "You are my prisoner ; this is my 
boat." This broke the rebel line, as by the confederate 
programme, the Susquehanna was to have been the 
fighting line. 

Knowing that the bridges on the railroad were burned, 
General Butler, instead of crossing the river, as I had done 
a short time before, impressed into the United States ser- 
vice the officers and crew of the boat, and proceeded down 
the river to Annapolis. There he seized the United States 
ship Constitution, then in rebel hands. 

When I reached Baltimore about one or two o'clock in 
the morning, I saw a burning bridge in front of me, and 
heard for the first time the startling rebel yell. As I 
stepped out of the cars a military officer came up and 
asked if the cars were clear. On my answer in the 
h 



106 YANKEE IN BALTIMORE. 

affirmative, he ordered his men to file in. These men 
were Governor Hick's state troops, which were going to 
intercept the New York and Massachusetts regiments. 

Two traveling companions of mine, Mr. French of Fall 
River, Mass., and a young man in the employ of Colonel 
Ross, of Macon, Ga., now joined me. We got over a 
fence and crossed some fields until we came to another 
road. There we saw a man with a heavy piece of artillery, 
drawn by two horses. Asking him where he was going, 
he said, " To head off the Northern troops." I told him 
they would " be right along." He replied, " We will be 
ready for 'em." 

We soon found a hackman, who offered to take us across 
the city for $5. We accepted the offer and reached the 
Washington depot safely. There the greatest excitement 
prevailed. We were told that the usual 8 o'clock train 
would not leave that morning. There might be a train 
some time during the day, was the notice we received, and 
I was advised by an old Union man to hide my baggage, 
and not let it be known that I was from Boston. I did so, 
and assuming the role of a country stranger, mixed with 
mob and began asking questions. 

"What is all this trouble about?" I inquired of the 
hardest, wickedest looking crowd to be imagined. 

The reply was: "The Sixth Massachusetts Regiment 
came through here last night ; we had a fight with them 
and killed five or six of their men." 

" Where are their bodies ? " 



AWAITING THE N. Y. SEVENTH. IO7 

" Down thar," he replied, pointing down a side street. 

" Can I go and look at them ? " 

" Better not, unless you want to leave your 'n with 'em. 
The Seventh New York Regiment is on the way, but we 
shan't let 'em go through." 

" How many men have we got here?" I asked. 

Three thousand ; and not one Northern soldier will get 
through here alive." 

Then I said, " But that Seventh Regiment is composed 
of wealthy aristocrats ; if they should be killed here, 
before next Saturday night New York would send down a 
hundred thousand troops to avenge them, and not one 
building in the place would be left standing." 

" Shut up, you old coward ; we don't want to hear any 
such talk as that! " was the reply I received. 

While we were talking a man said: "That Sixth 
Regiment is a lot of cowards ; for after they got out of 
danger up here on the track, they murdered a gentleman." 

The depot-master here joined in, saying, " I can tell you 
all about that; the man was passing by the train, and 
threw a stone at a soldier sitting by a window in a car. 
The soldier up with his gun and shot him dead." 

Another man in the crowd said : " That is not so ; for I 
helped to take the gentleman up, and his white gloves 
were so clean that he could n't have thrown the stone. 
The gentleman that was killed was Mr. Davis, a dry goods 
merchant, who yesterday offered $1,000 to aid in preventing 
the regiment from going through." 



IOS GLOOMY FEELING IX WASHINGTON'. 

" You can get the whole story in the morning papers," 
said another. 

The Baltimore papers of that morning had articles 
calling the Sixth Regiment a cowardly lot for murdering a 
man in cold blood. I carried copies to Washington and had 
the facts published. I state these facts in honor of the 
Sixth, and should like to hear the version of some one in 
the Sixth Regiment who saw the shot fired. I got a 
chance to go to Washington that forenoon. 

The citizens of Washington seemed half out of their 
wits; were, in fact, scared nearly to death. Pointing up 
to the Union flag, one exclaimed, "This is the last day 
that that flag will be raised here ! " then showing the rebel 
flag floating on the breeze on Arlington Heights, he said, 
" Tomorrow, down goes our flag, up goes theirs." 

I found this to be the almost universal opinion. I called 
on Colonel Jones of the Sixth Massachusetts, and found 
him in the senate chamber, with windows and doors barri- 
caded with barrels of flour and plaster of Paris, the doors 
guarded, and displayed on the door the words, " Xo 
admittance." 

I called a sergeant and sent in my name, saying, " I 
have a communication from Baltimore." I was admitted 
and saw Colonel Jones, and also many other men who 
bore marks of the stones thrown by the Baltimore mob. 
The Stoneham company was the one injured. 

I asked Colonel Jones why he did not form his regiment 
and march through Baltimore. He said that was the 



TROOPS MOBBED IN BALTIMORE. IO9 

arrangement with the railroad company ; but instead of 
that they hitched on horses and drew off one car at a time 
around to the other depot, out of sight and hearing. 
When they came to the last two cars the mob put an anchor 
before the wheels and stopped them, then smashed in the 
windows and made prisoners of the band in the last car. 

Captain Dyke (with the Stoneham company) , who was 
in the other car, came out, formed his company, and 
started on the double quick for the Washington depot, 
fighting the mob on the way, and turning the company 
three times to face the mob with volleys of bullets. The 
company finally joined the regiment, which was waiting 
in the cars, and the train started immediately for 
Washington. 

I believe that regiment went through Baltimore wrong 
end foremost. If Colonel Jones had formed his regiment 
and marched through, soldier fashion, I don't believe there 
would have been a man hurt. But a single company, 
guarded only by a band, was too great a temptation to a 
rebel mob. 

In Washington we had but 2,500 troops all told. 
Colonel Jones' regiment in the senate chamber, a Pennsyl- 
vania regiment in the house of representatives, some 
artillery guarding the postoffice and the long and chain 
bridges. I visited the bridges and saw that the rebels 
could easily have crossed the chain bridge, and would have 
done so had they known how weak we were. But the 
report was that Butler was marching up with the Eighth 



HO CALL ON PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 

Massachusetts and Seventh New York Regiments. This 
belief saved Washington from rebel attack. 

I went to see President Lincoln, who was shut up in the 
White House, guarded at night by General Lane of 
Kansas, with seventy men, to keep him from being mur- 
dered. I went up with Dr. Towle, an old resident, as 
escort. We went into the lower part of the White House 
on Wednesday morning, and were told that the president 
would not receive any calls. I sent up my name, saying I 
had Boston papers of Friday morning, and that I was the 
last man through Baltimore from Boston, New York and 
Philadelphia. We were then invited up, and Lincoln 
inquired very particularly regarding the state of feeling in 
the Eastern cities, and made minute inquiries as to what I 
knew of General Butler's movements. He seemed to be 
very anxious in regard to him ; he said he had not heard 
from the general for eighteen hours. His dispatches had 
all been returned as the rebel forces were between Butler 
and Washington. He remarked: "The wires are cut, 
the bridges are burned, we are here all in the dark, perhaps 
to be taken prisoners and hung." 

I gave him all the information I had ; told him there 
were a hundred thousand men on the way, coming to the 
rescue of Washington. " They will come to our funeral," 
he answered. 

"Massachusetts will send a regiment a day if you will 
give the order," I said 

Mr. Lincoln said: k> If Butler gets here, he will save 



DEPARTURE FROM WASHINGTON. Ill 

Washington." On Friday morning General Butler 
marched into Washington with his troops, and the city 
was saved. 

Learning that the agent, Colonel Vinton, whom I 
wished to see in regard to my business, was in New York, 
it was next in order for me to reach that city, but it was as 
hard getting out of Washington as it was getting in. All 
the railroads were stopped and there seemed to be no 
avenue of escape. The government privately sent off the 
mails by the United States vessel, Keystone State, bound 
for New York. 

By means of information from the quartermaster, I was 
lucky enough to get on board of this vessel. Going down 
the Potomac we were called to quarters four times. The 
first time was at Alexandria. I was standing talking with 
the surgeon, when Captain Tragicanth swung his rattle, 
"All hands to quarter." The magazine was opened. 
" I will go below, or take off my coat if I can do any- 
thing," I said. The surgeon said, " Take right hold with 
me, as we will have to lay the wounded on this table." 
Looking around I saw the Hon. Mr. Twichell, president 
of the Boston & Albany Railroad, with two or three 
others, in the bow of the boat. I thought they were 
crouching a little as though they thought their jackets 
were rather thin. I was watching for the first flash, but 
we passed without attack. 

The next halt was when opposite the hotel called White 
House, where the rebels were erecting a masked battery. 



112 ARRIVAL IN WAHINGTON. 

We were stopped at Alto Creek, where they were working- 
on their afterward famous battery. 

The next morning we met a vessel which was supposed 
to be the escaped Cumberland from Norfolk. We arrived 
in New York safely, and there I put in a bid for the first 
government proposal for bootees for the army, and secured 
a contract for sewed bootees. 

Afterwards I had an interview with Stanton, then 
secretary of war, and offered to furnish goods of the first 
quality, warranting the sewing, and to have each article 
stamped with my name, if he would require the same 
conditions from all other shoe manufacturers who should 
furnish goods to this department. Secretary Stanton 
accepted this offer, and immediately issued an order in 
conformity with our bargain, to all the quartermasters, 
thereby preventing the soldiers from having poor shoes. 

In my boyhood I worked with one John Phillips of 
East Bridgewater, who, in the war of the revolution, was 
sergeant in Captain Colfax's company. That company 
was General Washington's life guard all through the war. 
Phillips told me that the soldiers then wore French shoes. 
The sewing ripped so badly that the soles came off, and 
during the retreat through New Jersey many of the men 
were barefooted, and their pathway over the frozen ground 
was marked with blood. Written history confirms this 
statement. 

This order secured to our Union soldiers good shoes, 
I made about 300,000 pairs during the war. I had to take 



LOSS OF INTEREST. II^ 

pay in vouchers, which I sold for 90 cents on the dollar. 
I could have taken the 5 per cent, ten-forties, which were 
sold at 90 cents. The government did not allow interest 
on vouchers, thereby I lost $10,000 on interest account. 
I will say in closing that I secured in Philadelphia the last 
contract the government ever gave out. 



(iH) 



American Trade With Peru. 

The recent interview with Secretary Blaine regarding 
his management of questions growing out of the war 
between Chili and Peru, developed the opinion that the 
course of trade between the United States and the South 
American republics is very liable to be turned to other 
channels, and especially towards English ports. 

Some twenty years ago I had several customers in Peru, 
among them a gentleman in Lima, to whom I sold a large 
bill of shoes, for those days, in payment of which I was 
to receive Bereder's note on six months. He referred me 
to the late Benjamin Bangs, who said the Peruvian agent's 
note was perfectly good, as he then owed Mr. Bangs 
several hundred thousand dollars. Instead of giving his 
note, Mr. Bereder, the agent of Peru, preferred to pay 
the ca$h, at a discount of a quarter per cent, less than 
would be required of the best note in New York. I 
didn't sell those goods at a profit of one or two cents a 
pair, but received a good "square-toed" price, and 
received several orders afterwards. 

I also sold several large bills to Augustus Hemenway, 
which we shipped to Valparaiso. The last bill I sold him 
amounted to something like $20,000, on which, I presume, 



A TRADE WORTH RETAINING. II5 

I received more profit than our shoe dealers now get on a 
$100,000 sale. Now I strongly believe that if the shoe 
agents would form an association and send agents abroad, 
they would revive the trade in that branch of goods 
included in the shoe business, which would eventuate in 
in great pecuniary and commercial profit and advantage, 
and would give great impetus to the manufacturing 
industries of the country. 

After I had sold two or three bills to my Peruvian 
customer, I asked Mr. Bangs why I did not receive more 
orders from him. He said the man had got rich and 
retired from business. 



(n6) 



Machine to Cut and Head Nails, 

Made In East Bridgewater — First In the World. 

[From Nahum Mitchell's History of the Early Settlement of 
Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Mass.] 

The making of small arms in New England, if not in 
the United States, commenced in Bridgewater. Many 
stands of arms were made here before the Revolution. 
Cannons were cast here solid and bored, at the commence- 
ment of that war, the first, perhaps, that were manufac- 
tured in this manner in the country. 

There were more edged tools and wrought nails formerly 
made here than in any other town in the state. Bar iron, 
anchors, cotton gins, sugar mills, shovels, edged tools, 
hoops, nails, tacks, and castings of every description are 
still made here, and some of these branches are carried on 
very extensively. 

There are also here a paper mill, cotton mills and other 
manufacturing and mechanical establishments of various 
kinds. Chaise making has for many years been a consider- 
able branch of business ; but at present the shoe business 
exceeds all others, $2,000 a week being paid at one 
establishment alone to the workmen for the making only of 
shoes. 



ENCOURAGEMENT TO INGENUITY. II'J 

The Hon. Hugh Orr, himself a Scotchman, who manu- 
factured the small arms and cannon, as previously stated, 
invited Robert Barr and Alexander Barr, brothers, from 
Scotland, to construct carding, spinning and roping 
machines at his works in East Bridgewater. And the 
General court on the 16th of November, 17S6, Mr. Orr 
himself then being one of the senate, by a resolve of that 
date, allowed £200 for their ingenuity, and afterwards 
granted them a further compensation of six tickets in the 
land lottery of that period. These machines remained in 
the possession of Mr. Orr, for the inspection of all dis- 
posed to see them, and he was requested by the General 
court to exhibit the same and give all explanation and 
information in his power respecting them. 

These were the first machines of the kind ever made in 
the country. Mr. Slater, with the late Moses Brown of 
Providence, came to examine them on Mr. Slater's first 
arrival in the country, and before he had commenced any 
establishment of the kind. The circumstances of this 
visit were communicated to the writer by Mr. Brown him- 
self, who at the same time added, that these were the first 
machines of the kind ever made in the United States. 
Thomas Somers, another Scotchman, under the direction 
of Mr. Orr, constructed other machines for carding, 
roping and spinning cotton, and on the Sth of March, 
1787, the General court placed in Mr. Orr's hands £20 to 
encourage the artist. Mr. Orr, also about the same time, 
employed another foreigner, by the name of McClure, to 



IlS MACHINE MADE NAILS. 

weave jeans and corduroys by hand with a fly shuttle, 
much in the same manner as it is now done by water 
power. It may therefore with truth be said, perhaps, that 
the first small arms, the first solid cannon cast and bored, 
the first cotton thread ever spun by modern machinery, 
in America, were made in Bridge water. 

The first nails manufactured by machinery in the United 
States were made here ; probably the first nail completely 
cut and headed by machinery at one operation in the world, 
was made in East Bridgewater by the late Mr. Samuel 
Rogers. Inlaying the shingles on the meeting-house in 
East Bridgewater, which was erected in 1794, nails made 
by hand in a small machine invented by him, were 
principally used. 

The writer well recollects the circumstances, and often 
saw the machine in operation. It had been invented and 
constructed long before, and was supposed to be the first 
method ever discovered of making a perfect nail at one 
operation. Some of the present manufactures carried on 
here, such as cotton gins and others, are probably the first 
ever made in New England. Few places, therefore, have 
done more towards the introduction and promotion of the 
manufacturing and mechanical arts than this ancient town 
of Bridgewater. 



(ii 9 ) 



The French Army on Boston Common. 

When the French army was on Boston Common during 
the Revolution, my father lived in Watertown. He was 
attached to the commissary department and had to see 
them every day. He said it was the most magnificent 
army his eyes ever beheld. They wore splendid uniforms, 
and the officers, when they came on parade, looked as if 
they had just come out of a drawer, with their fine ruffled 
shirts, and bright swords by their sides. They were our 
real friends in the time of need, and through their aid we 
gained our independence. It was those bright bayonets 
that carried the works at Yorktown under Lafayette and 
Washington. The army had their cattle driven to them 
on the Common and they were slaughtered there. Their's 
was a regular French camp. When the rations were 
served out, the observer could see that the soup ration was 
the chief article of food that they all sought after. 



(120) 



How Abner Curtis Bought Slaves. 

Perhaps some of my readers would like to know how 
Abner Curtis of Abington bought slaves. About forty 
years ago, when I hurried around State street and had paid 
up my notes, and when the banks had closed at 2 o'clock, 
I went up to Young's with the rest of the shoe dealers to 
get my dinner, for Young cooked the best dinner of any 
one in the city. His soup was the best in the world. 

There was a smart colored man waited on my table. 
He came to my store one morning when I kept in Pearl 
street, and said : " I wait upon your table, and I am a 
runaway slave, and have left a wife and three or four 
children. I am trying to collect money enough to buy 
them. Some of the other gentlemen, who dine at Young's, 
have given me $5 apiece. Now if you will give me the 
same it will help me along." 

I handed him the $5, and said, " I will find you another 
man." I took him over to Abner Curtis's store, in the 
same street. He was a thorough out-and-out abolitionist, 
and made that a part of his religion. 

Mr. Williams told him his story. He gave him his $5, 
and took him into his store, saying, <; If you will stay here 
today, every man who comes into my store shall pay you $5." 



CURTIS AND THE J v S. 121 

Mr. Curtis told the man's story to all who came in, and 
all paid the amount asked. Pretty soon some Jews came 
in to buy some shoes. They hesitated, and shrugged up 
their shoulders, and said, "Who is going to buy the rest 
after this man has bought his?" 

Curtis says: " There will be a Moses along who will 
free all the rest," and the Jews paid over. 

Curtis said to Williams, it being Saturday, " If you will 
go home with me tonight, I will raise the rest of the 
money." He took him home with him, and carried him 
to church and raised the balance of the money, and in a 
few weeks Williams had his whole family in Abington 
with him. Well done, Curtis. 



(122) 



Trade Papers. 

The Shoe and Leather Reporter is a journal devoted to 
the trade in leather, boots and shoes, findings, hides, skins 
and tannery materials, is the recognized trade paper, now 
in its fifty-first volume. It is published by the Shoe and 
Leather Reporter Company, with headquarters at New 
York, and offices at Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago. 
It is without question the authority on all matters pertain- 
ing to the shoe and leather business and its collateral 
branches. It is a weekly paper published every Thursday, 
and mailed to any address, at $3.50 per year, and $4 to 
European subscribers. The Shoe and Leather Reporter 
Annual, a 700-page directory of the trade, is also issued 
in January of each year and a copy presented to each 
subscriber. Isaac H. Bailey, of New York, is editor of 
the Reporter. 



( I2 3) 



Shipment of Shoes to Australia. 

When gold was discovered in Australia, there was a 
great rush by people to send goods there, the accounts 
from there being that the goods were selling at enormous 
prices. I had a friend there of the firm of Hooper & Co., 
commission merchants ; I would make up an invoice of 
goods which I knew would be suitable for the miners, 
amounting to about $4,000 or $5,000 and ship them right 
down to him. 

The goods would bring double or treble prices. I 
would let him sell them and remit the proceeds to me. 
In the meantime I would make up invoices all ready to 
ship and sell them right out to other parties, and they 
would ship them right down to Hooper & Co. 

In another case, I found a man just fitting out a vessel, 
loading with lumber and flour chiefly as a cargo. I sold 
him a bill of about $5,000 worth of shoes. When the 
vessel arrived in Australia, he found there was a perfect 
overstock of lumber and flour, but the shoes brought a 
great price. He had to hire help to unload the vessel and 
get the lumber ashore and stack it up out of the way, and 
the flour also. He did not realize anything from the 
lumber and flour. He failed and assigned his property. 



124 SHOES ALWAYS WANTED. 

When I went to his assignee to get my dividend, he said, 
"It is rather a hard case for yon, as all the money I have 
to divide is the money obtained from the sale of your 
shoes," and he made a dividend of 25 per cent. 

In my experience, shoes in a foreign market have 
always done well. The French, English and German we 
did not hear anything about. And it was just so in Cali- 
fornia. Shoes were the best articles sent there, and we 
had no competition with foreign markets. 



(i2 5 ) 



Shoes Shipped to San Francisco. 

Patent leather brogans brought $5 a pair in San 
Francisco, Cal., in the early days. Mr. Wales of Ran- 
dolph bought large quantities of my patent leather brogans, 
and he ordered them through a Mr. Bemus, his agent. 
When the great fire broke out in San Francisco, it burned 
out Mr. Wales and he considered himself a ruined man. 
He had nothing left in the world to start with, but an 
invoice of fifty cases of my patent leather brogans. He 
went right into the street and sold the invoice of the goods 
that were expected to arrive, at over $5 per pair. That 
put him on his feet. He went right to work and rebuilt 
his store. By the time it was finished, the second invoice 
had arrived. He went right on in his business and came 
out rich. He told me himself that those fifty cases of 
shoes saved him. 



(126) 



Patent Leather Manufacturers. 

Samuel Noah of Roxbury was the first man in New 
England who made patent leather for shoes, in 1835 or 
1836. It proved to be a great advantage to the manufac- 
turers, and added a great deal to their profits, as shoes 
made of patent leather brought great prices. And there 
were large quantities of those kind of shoes sent out of 
the country. 

Among the most prominent of the manufacturers of 
patent leather was Webster & Co. At their factory in 
Maiden, they manufactured the very best of patent leather. 
It was made from domestic hides of the grain part of the 
leather. They had it split just the thickness they wanted 
and finished it oft' in the very best style and turned it out' 
in large quantities. It was a very great advantage to the 
manufacturers, as there was a large demand for the shoes 
at that time. 



(I2 7 ) 



The Patent Centenary. 

The week ending April n, 1891, was devoted in 
Washington to the celebration of the centenary of the 
American patent system. It is just a hundred years since 
Washington signed the first United States patent, and 
today there are nearly half a million such documents in 
existence, and they are increasing at the rate of 25,000 a 
year. The annual income from the patent office, over its 
expenses, is $250,000, and the patent funds now accumu- 
lated in the treasury, and derived from the taxing of 
patents in the past, are nearly $4,000,000. 

Of all the patents in this country, I think the shoe 
manufacturers, the tanners and curriers, have had the 
best. The splitting machine was invented in 1S09, eightv- 
one years ago, by Samuel Parker. By it the country has 
saved millions of dollars' worth of good split leather. By 
the old way, the leather was shaved oft' with immense 
labor by hand, and thrown away. I do not know how the 
country got along without it. It was purely an American 
invention. 

About thirty-one years ago the wonderful McKay -ow- 
ing machine was invented for sewing the soles on the 
shoes. It was a great advantage to the army, whereby 



I2S OUR BUSINESS FACILITIES. 

thousands of soldiers had good sewed shoes. There have 
been millions upon millions of shoes made by that machine 
since. A man can sew 500 pairs of shoes a day with that 
machine. Now with the split leather machine and the 
McKay sewing machine we ought to be able to supply all 
South America and Africa with shoes at very low prices. 



(I2 9 ) 



A Chapter of Events, 

Taken From Edward H. Savage's Valuable Book, 
"Boston Events." 

1621. Boston first visited by the Plymouth colony, Sept. 19. 

1630. Beacon Hill, the highest land in Trimountain. 

1630. Town of Boston settled by Massachusetts colony, Sept. 7; 

took a deed of the land from the Indians, March 19, 

1684. 
1630. Boston Settled by Winthrop's party and named for 

Boston, England, Sept. 7. 

1630. Harbor frozen over far down the bay, Dec. 26. 

1631. Sailing ships of thirty tons launched at Boston, July 4; 

several arrive with cattle, June, 1635. 
1633. Rev. John Cotton escaped from Boston, Old England. 

1633. Appointed pastor of the first church, Oct. 10. 

1634. England began to be jealous of the colon} 7 -. 

1634. Selectmen called "Town's Occasion" called, Sept. 1. 

1634. Money change : leaden bullets used for change. 

1635. Roger Williams banished from the town for what was 

called heresy, Oct. 13. 

1636. Representatives for the town chosen by the people. 

1637. Indian women and children sold as slaves, July 6. 

1637. Rev. Mr. Wheelwright banished for heresy, Oct. 3. 

1638. Captain Underhill banished for defamation, Sept. 17. 

1639. Muster on the Common, 1,000 soldiers in line, May 6. 

1640. Beacon Hill called Century Hill for a time. 

1641. Several tan yards near the dock. 

1641. Twelve hundred soldiers, no rum, no swearing, Sept. 15. 

1641. Birth of children in town to be recorded by town clerk. 

1643. A French fleet frighten the town, June 12. 

1644. Rev. John Eliot preached to the Indians; completed a 

translation of the Bible in Indian language, 1663. 

1645. Register of deeds of Boston land begins, Sept. 29. 

1646. Swearing and pow-wowing fined ]0 shillings. 

1647. Schools established by law, Oct. 

1650. Boots and silver lace prohibited by law. 



i3° 



INCIDENTS. 



1650. Xegroes and Indians sold as slaves in Boston; sold as 
slaves at auction in Boston, 1711 ; 1,514 living in town, 
1742; advertised for sale, 1772: made street scavengers 
by General Howe, 1775: advertised for sale in Boston, 
1776. 

1652. Pine Tree shillings and sixpences coined. 

1652. Silver coined in Boston. 

1653. State arms kept in King street. 

1654. Dine at meat and wine on town house. 

1655. Irish emigrants arrived. 

1655. Quakers begin to be punished for their belief. 

1656. Miles Standish died Oct. 3, aged 72. 

1660. King Charles II ordered Quaker prisoners discharged. 

1661. Liberty granted to use prayer books; allowed to be used 

at funerals, 1686. 
1669. Old South, building of cedar wood began, July 20; new 
brick house completed, April 26, 1730; had a British 
riding school and a bar. Nov., 1775; refitted for relig- 
ious services, Jan., 1782. 

1675. Military company frightened by an eclipse of the moon, 

June 27. 

1676. King Philip killed at Mount Hope, Aug. 12: King Philip's 

head exhibited on a pole in Boston. Aug. 15. 
1676. King Philip's war, one-eleventh of the soldiers killed. 
1085. Purchased over from the Indians to secure a title, 

March 19. 
1689. Rev. Mr. Winslow. Boston's favorite, died April 4. 

1600. Bills of credit; first New England paper money issued. 

1601. Paper ballots first used in town meetiug. 
1693. Inn holders; nine are licensed in Boston. 

16 ( .>5. Justices allowed to marry persons in the county: were 
required to patrol the streets on Sunday, 1740.' 

1607. But two Jews reside in town. 

1608. Cotton Mather, minister of thfl second church; his church 

was one-sixth widows, 1697. 
1608. Kissing a fineable offence in Boston (if caught). 

1704. "The News Letter" published in Boston. April 24. 

1711. Mail matter went from Boston to New York once a week; 
went from Boston to Hartford once a week. 1712; went 
from Boston to Xew York in three days, 1S14. 

1711. Postoffice law passed for North America. 

1711. Fifteen French vessels arrived in the harbor June 8. 

1713. Aquitamong, an Indian, aged 112 years, visited Boston 
Aug. 25. 

1717. The largest English town in America. 

1718. The town purchased 10,000 loaves of bread for the poor, 

Dec. 2«. i. 



INCIDENTS. 131 

1719. Aurora Borealis, first seen in Boston, causing great alarm, 

May 15. 

1720. Linen manufacture introduced by the Scotch. 

1720. Potatoes introduced into Boston by the Scotch. 

1721. Great exhibition of spinning on* the Common, August; 

encouraged by the government, 1752. 
1721. Zebdiel Boylston introduced kine-pox inoculation, May 21. 

1723. Intelligence offices ; the keepers were fined for fraud. 

1724. Insurance offices, one by Marion, State street. 

1725. Treaty of peace with the colony confirmed, Dec. 15. 
1728. Schools provided for colored persons. 

1732. George Washington, born in Westmoreland county, Va., 
Feb. 11 ; appointed general of the army June 17, 1773 ; 
his army arrived at Dorchester Heights March 16, 1776 ; 
took possession of Boston March 17; birthday cele- 
brated in Boston, Feb. 11, 1786. 

1734. The weights regulated by law, March 11. 

1736. One ounce silver worth 20 shillings provincial bills. 

1740. Peter Faneuil offered to give the town a market house, 

July 14; gift accepted by vote: Yeas, 367; nays, 300; 
April 14, 1742. 

1741. Fifty vessels building at the wharves, July. 

1744. Lotteries authorized by law in Massachusetts, March 24. 

1744. Louisburg war, 2,000 men embark from Boston, March 24. 

1745. News received of success, great rejoicing, July 3. 
1745. The chime of bells rst fining, Xov. 8. 

1754. Benjamin Franklin surprised the world with electricity, 

Xov.; worked at printing in Qneen street, 1725-1775 ; 
commissioner in a treaty with England, 1783; was a 
general postmaster in the country, 1753 ; fund given to 
Boston by will of Franklin, 1790; statue of Franklin 
placed front City Hall, School street. Sept. 17, 1856; 
removed to west side of yard, Sept. 1802. 

1755. Two hundred Scotchmen just arrived from Xova Scotia, 

Xov. 10. 
1759. Quebec taken by Gen. Wolfe ; sensation in Boston, Sept. 18. 
1765. Governor Hutchinson's house at the Xorth End mobbed, 

Aug. 16. 
1767. Slaves still bought and sold in Massachusetts. 
176S. Taken possession of by British troops, Oct. 2. 

1769. Samuel Adams lived in Brattle square. 

1770. Massacre in State street, five men killed, one fatally 

injured, March 5. 
1770. Crispus Attucks, leader in the defence in the massacre, 
King street, March 5. 

1773. The sale of tea to be prevented on account of the duty, 

Xov. 4; three shiploads arrive at Griffin's wharf, Dec. 
3 ; party got up at the Old South church, Dec. 16; 342 
chests thrown overboard at Griffin's wharf, Dec. 16. 

1774. John Hancock chosen president of Continental Congress. 



I32 INCIDENTS. 

1774. American coffee house kept in King street. 

1774. Thomas Jefferson had a big reception at Boston, June 28 ; 
given a big cheese by political friends, Jan, 1802. 

1774. Oil first put in use in town, March 31. 

1774. Continental Congress, ten colonies represented at Phila- 
delphia, Sept. 4. 

1774. Blockage of Boston harbor by British men-of-war, May 10. 

1775. British soldiers leave the Common for Concord and Lex- 

ington, April 18; make a play-house of Faneuil hall, 

Jan. 11, 1776 ; evacuate the town to ships in harbor, 

March 17; driven from the harbor by Washington, 

June 14. 
.1775. Full of dead and dyiug British soldiers, June 18. 
1775. British have six guns mounted on Copp's hill, June 17. 
1775. Barracks on the Common, at Lynde Street church and Old 

South (British). 
1775. Christ Church, Salem street, signal light in the belfrv, 

April 18. 
1775. Belfry, General Howe's headquarters, June 17. 
1775. Battles at Lexington and Concord, first of the Revolution, 

April 19. 

1775. Bunker Hill (Breed's Hill), Charlestown. June 17. 

1776. All the British driven from the harbor June 14. 

1776. Boston evacuated by British troops, taken possession of 

b}^ Washington's army, March 17. 
1776. Made a declaration of independence, July 4. 
1776. Washington besieging Boston, March 4. 
1776. Cannon ball lodged in Brattle Street church, March. 
1776. Population Boston, 2,719 inhabitants in town, besides 

British soldiers ; 58,247 in city, 1825. 

1776. British vessels daily captured and brought in, Sept. 

1777. General Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga, Oct. 17. 

1780. Marquis Lafayette visited Boston, April 28; again visited 
Boston, Oct. 18, 1784; reception at Boston, Aug. 25, 
1824. 

1780. John Hancock elected by the people of the state, Oct. 15. 

1780. Mr. Monks, the sixth massacre victim, died, March 9. 

1781. Directory first published for Boston. 

1781. Cornwallis' defeat at Yorktown ; great sensation, Oct. 19. 

1782. Large scales first put in use at the market. 

1783. Treaty of peace with England proclaimed in Boston April 1 . 

1784. Paul Revere kept a shop opposite the Liberty pole. 

1784. First New England bank established March IS. 

1785. Nantasket desired to secede from the United States, Dec. 20; 

has become a great summer resort. 1880. 

1786. Shay's war for resisting the collection of taxes, Sept. 

1787. Captured soldiers brought to Boston Jan. 24. 

1788. Columbian Sentinel published. 

1788. French fleet, Marquis De Joinville, in Boston harbor, 
Aug. 27. 



INCIDENTS. 133 

1789. United States inaugurated George Washington April 30; 

visited Boston Oct. 24, 1789; died, aged 67 years, Dec. 

14, 1799. 
1792. Uniou Bank went into operation Aug. 1. 
1795. Conclusion of the Jay treaty, July 4. 
1795. Federal money began to be reckoned, dollars, dimes, cent. 

and mills, Feb. 5. 
1797. John Adams inaugurated March 4, reception in Boston 

July 31, 1799 
1797. State House built on Beacon Hill completed. 

1800. Navy yard ground ceded to the United States. 

1801. Thomas Jefferson inaugurated March 4, visited Boston 

June 28, 1774. 
1809. Embargo closed the harbor to shipping, Jan. 23. 

1809. James Madison inaugurated March 4. 

1810. Reading room established in Exchange coffee house, 

1811. Highest part of Beacon Hill dug down thirty feet for 
1811. Massachusetts Gentral hospital, McLean street, incorpor- 
ated. 

1813. Moll Pitcher, the Lynn fortune teller died, aged 75, April 13. 

1814. Oliver H. Perry of Lake Erie fame, visited Boston May 10. 
1814. Boston full of Yankee troops; attack from English 

expected, Sept. 10. 
1818. Edmund Kean hissed down at the Boston Theatre, Dec. 7. 

1822. Inaugurated a city ; mayor, aldermen and council, May 1. 

1823. Public Garden, land offered for sale, March 24. 

1823. Mayor Josiah Quiucv inaugurated, May 1; died July 1, 
1864, aged 92 years. 

1825. Bunker Hill monument, corner stone laid, June 17; com- 
pleted, great celebration, June 17, 1843. 

1825. John Quincy Adams inaugurated March 4. 

1826. Horse railroad at Quincy granite works, Oct. 

1829. Andrew Jackson inaugurated March 4, visited Boston June 

30, 1833. 

1830. Beecher's Congregational church burned, Feb. 1. 

1831. Quincy hall over the market named, June 13. 

1833. Estate donated by Mr. Perkins for an asylum for the blind, 

April 19. 

1834. A shipload of ice sent to Calcutta; 25,000 tons of ice 

shipped South, 1846. 

1836. Luke Brooks introduced the selling of upper leather by the 

foot, calf skins by the pound. 

1837. The Boston banks that failed in the panic: American. 

Commonwealth, Commercial, Fulton, Hancock, Kilby, 
Lafayette, Middling Interest, Oriental. South. 
1837. Black Hawk visited Boston, Oct. 30. 

1837. Suspension of banks throughout the country, hard times, 

May 11. 

1838. Resume specie payments, Aug. IS. 



J 34 



INX1DENTS. 



1838. Abner Kneeland sent to jail as a Free Thinker, June 13. 
1838. Daniel Webster, great reception and dinner atFaneuil hall, 

July 24; funeral at Marshfield, twenty Boston police 

detailed, Oct. 29, 1852. 
1810. The Lexington burned on Long Island sound; 150 lives 

lost Jan. 13. 
1840. The Unicorn, first of the Cunard line, arrived in Boston 

June 4. 
1840. Log cabin ; a political emblem on the Common, July 4. 

1843. General AVinfield Scott visited Boston Sept. 4; resigned 

command of the armv Xov. 2, 1861 ; died at West Point 
May 29, 1866, aged 82". 

1844. Ice channel cut for English steamer by John Hill, Feb. 5. 

1845. Mayor, Thomas A. Davis, inaugurated Feb. 27. 
1845. Josiah Quincy, Jr., inaugurated Dec. 11. 

1847. Boston sent provisions for Ireland's suffering poor. 

1848. Massachusetts Regiment returned from the Mexican war, 

July 20. 

1848. The California gold fever reached Boston; a sensation, 

Sept. 18. 

1849. First gold brought to Boston by Adams Express, May 10. 
1849. Penny post established in Boston, Jan. 

1851. Edward H. Savage appointed a police officer in Boston, 

Feb. 10. 

1852. Louis Kossuth, lecturing and selling Hungarian bonds at 

Faneuil hall, April 29. 

1854. Edward H. Savage appointed captain division Xo. 1, 
May 26; deputy chief of police, Feb. 11, 1861; chosen 
chief of police, April 4, 1870; appointed probation 
officer for Suffolk county, Oct. 21, 1878. 

1858. Jeff Davis Boston's guest, Oct. 11. 

1861. Abraham Lincoln inaugurated March 4. 

1861. General B. F. Butler appointed to command of the Massa- 

chusetts Brigade first ordered to Washington April 17; 
reviewed his New England regiment in Boston Jan. 3, 
1862 ; landed at Xew Orleans as military governor May 
1 ; grand reception at Faneuil hall, Jan. 13, 1863 ; re- 
ceived 110,000 votes for governor of Massachusetts, 
defeated, Xov. 5. 1878; elected governor of Massachu- 
setts Xov. 7, 1882. 

1862. Federal postage stamps in use for change, July. 

1863. Fifty-fourth (colored) went South from Boston to the 

war, May 3. 
1863. Coin gone out of cirulation, postage stamps used for 
change. 

1863. Emancipation proclaimed by President Lincoln, Jan. 1. 

1864. City hospital, corner of Harrison avenue and Worcester 

street, dedicated May 24. 
1864. Captain of the Kearsarge feasted at Boston Xov. 10. 



INCIDENTS. 



*35 



1864. Gold at 154, July 1 ; at 194, Sept. 1 ; at 194, Oct. 1 ; at 136 

Nov. 1. 

1865. Abraham Lincoln assassinated April 14. aged 56 years. 
1865. Lee's surrender to Grant; great excitement, April 10. 

dwellings. 

1865. Great relief meeting at Faneuil hall for the Savannah 

sufferers, Jan. 9. 

1866. Gen. Wm. T. Sherman paid a visit to Boston July 13. 

1866. Thermometer 101 degrees above zero at noon. 

1867. Gen. Phil. H. Sheridan paid a visit to Boston Oct. 7. 
1869. Ulysses S. Grant inaugurated March 4, visited Boston 

June 16. 
1869. Peace jubilee, three days' festival on Boylston street, 

June 15. 
1872. The world's peace jubilee, held twenty days on Huntington 

avenue, June 17. 
1872. Terrible conflagration, sixty-three acres in the heart of 

Boston burned over, and more than $100,000,000 worth 

of property burned over, ISTov. 9. 
1875. Kalakuana, of Sandwich Islands, visited Boston, Jan. 
1875. Cars first pass through Hoosac Tunnel, Feb. 9. 

July 28. 
1875. The fifth city in the United States. 
1879. Women allowed lo vote for school committee, April 10. 
1879. Dr. Jacob Bigelow died at Boston, Aug. 10, aged 91 years. 
1879. Statue given by Moses Kimball, placed in Park square. 

Dec. 6. 
1879. Population. 375,000; taxable polls, 89,452; valuation, 

$630,446,866. 

1879. Proclamation read by a colored man, July 4. 

1880. Contribution for sufferers by Boston. 

1891. Gen. B. F. Butler received from the United States treasurer 
$270,000 in settlement of all claims growing out of the 
purchase by the government of his property at the 
corner of New Jersey avenue and B street, Washington, 
April 7. 



(i36; 



Old Shoe Manufacturers. 

Old shoe manufacturers iu Natick, Mass.: J. C. Wilson, J. W. 
Wolcott, Lewis W. Xute, Henry Wilson. 

Old shoe manufacturers iu Haverhill, Mass. : Mr. Montgomery, 
Mr. Chase, Leonard Johnson. 

The largest shoe firm in Wakefield, Mass., is that of Thomas 
Emerson's Sons, the business being commenced by Thomas 
Emerson in the year 1805 ; he retired in 1854, when the present 
title of the firm was adopted and the business continued by two 
sons and a grandson. They manufacture men's fine shoes. 
Thomas Emerson died in 1871. 

Lee Claflin commenced business in Milford, Mass., 1813; born 
in Hopkinton, Mass., Xov. 19, 1791; served his time with Mr. 
Warren in Framingham, Mass., as a tanner; died Feb. 23, 1871. 

Ira Cushman, one of the oldest shoe manufacturers in Auburn, 
Me. He did more than any other man to build up that great 
town, and if it continues on at the same rate it will soon be a 
large shoe city. 



s 



